


shook up my heart, drove me crazy

by empathui



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Barista!Seungmin, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Roadtrip au!, and seungmin just wants his goddamn sponge, bang family is the Best, ft. minho’s comfy choice of clothing, lapslock aha, little shit!minho, minho just wants his ladle, there was a bit of cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26696440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empathui/pseuds/empathui
Summary: "if you don't go just because of minho, i'll give him a discount forever."seungmin doesn't budge, only stays quiet as he thinks it over."and, min, you know he won't pass up an opportunity for discounted drinks and cakes everyday either," wonpil says with a teasing lilt to his voice. "everyday, min. everyday."or: where seungmin ends up joining chan’s birthday road trip and finds himself beside minho most of the time.
Relationships: Kim Seungmin/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 55
Kudos: 331
Collections: Seungmin-Centric Ficfest





	1. we're going trippin'!

**Author's Note:**

> prompt 14: person a and person b’s friend group decides to go on a roadtrip together! the catch is, person b seemingly hates person a’s guts while person a secretly has a crush on person b.
> 
> enjoy reading this fun mess!

the worn-out glass door opens with its signature low-pitched creak paired with the ringing from the bell above. seungmin stacks the last few cups on the rack and takes it as his cue to turn around and greet the newly arrived customer.

"good afternoon! what can i—oh. it's just you."

minho flashes him his shit-eating grin and greets back. "nice to see you, too, kim. does your boss know you talk to customers like that?"

the younger scoffs. "no, she doesn't. because i never talk to customers like that."

"am i not a customer?"

seungmin rolls his eyes the moment minho's grin grew wider. _insufferable._ "you're not a customer. _you_ are a nuisance."

"ah!" the older clutches the fabric over his heart and his face scrunches up into a pained (more like constipated) look, "you wound me."

that earns him an eye roll from seungmin. "suffer," seungmin deadpans as he grabs a cup from the rack. "the usual or are you still ticking items off the menu in your journey of self-discovery?"

"ah, of course you won’t miss a day of making fun of me for that. but i don't remember where i stopped last."

"you had a green tea latte last time so sweet potato latte's up next."

minho brightens up at that, a teasing glint in his eyes that the younger wants to punch off of his face. (the glint, not the eyes; but both could work too.) "oh my god, i can't believe you remembered! if i didn't know any better, i'd say you're interested in me."

"the hell is wrong with you—you literally come here four times a week to bug me."

minho puts his arms up in surrender and the other boy grimaces as he taps the order in, the older pulling his wallet out and halting seungmin before the barista moves to write anything and everything embarrassing as a substitute to minho's name on the cup. seungmin gets a kick out of it when he writes shit down. "please don't write anything embarrassing, i have class after this and the boys are there."

seungmin smiles.

"of course, _nuisance_."

  
  


♡

  
  


"' _nuisance. lee minho is a sweet potato drinking, ancient nuisance that doesn't want me to write anything embarrassing on his cup because he has class and doesn't want the homies to make fun of him'_ oh my god." jeongin cackles from his seat next to minho's. the lecture hall was pretty much empty and thankfully the professor was still out.

minho huffs and pulls his hood lower over his head as changbin examines the cup again. "how could he even fit that all in there?"

an arm slings around changbin's shoulders and takes the drink. "seungmin's a barista _and_ an art major, of course he's more than qualified to write a whole essay on there—oh look," hyunjin runs a thumb over the handwriting, "it even has scotch tape over it. he must really hate you."

"indeed he does," minho mumbles.

jeongin agrees with a noncommittal hum as chan hurriedly calls their attention as he enters the room.

hyunjin raises an eyebrow at the eldest. "now what's up with you?"

chan folds over to catch his breath, he totally ran all the way from the arts building. "i—" _pant._ "my birthday—" _another pant._ "late celebration next week after classes."

he then takes a deep breath and stands up. "we're going on a road trip for a day and a half. and _none_ of you can say no or i'll tell you on to your mothers and yes i called them to make sure you guys had no plans for the break."

"'and a half?' who celebrates their late birthday celebration for a day _and a half_?" changbin asks.

"me, duh."

"the seven of us are invited, right?" the youngest of the five asks and hyunjin turns to chan with hopeful eyes like a puppy asking for treats.

"uh," the older scratches the back of his head and looks at minho at the side. "yep."

the rest look at the hooded boy and he lets out another groan before planting his face on the desk.

"hyung," jeongin pats his back, "it'll be fine! just a day and a half with seungminnie-hyung. no one's gonna cause trouble, right?"

  
  


♡

  
  


the entrance to the café opens and just seconds ago, the low, tired grunt of the door and the tinkling of the bell mixes with a loud _"you did_ what _, seungmin?!"_ from an aggravated han jisung and an embarrassed lee felix tagging along from behind.

heads turn at the two boys and seungmin rolls his eyes, setting down a coaster back to its place beside the cash register. "can you keep it down? hyung can kick you out. _again_."

“he can kick me out all he wants but _you_ —you said no to chan and the road trip of your life?”

felix sends the younger boy an apologetic smile. "i tried to stop him from storming here but he was," he glances over to jisung, "persistent."

seungmin snorts at that and turns to the register. "you guys gonna order something?"

"choco chip frappe for me!" felix happily chirps.

"seungmi—" "no, jisung. i'm not entertaining you unless you order something."

a sigh comes from the older. "fine. i want cheesecake."

the register beeps as seungmin taps on the screen and felix pulls out some cash. "is that all?"

"and we also want you to join the road trip—" "that's not in the menu, ji."

jisung slams his hand on the counter and seungmin barely flinches. "goddammit, we want a seungmin-with-us-on-the-road-next-week. to-go."

"ugh," the barista groans as he hands felix one of the black coasters. "look, just go. i already told chan no, okay?"

"but he's also sad you're not coming," whines felix.

"yeah!" jisung's eyes widen the way they do when he's absolutely determined to prove a point, like a child convincing his friends that santa is very much real. "he got back to our place with a big pout because he was so sad! how could you do this to him, to _us_ , seungmin?"

opening the cake display, seungmin rolls his eyes. "i just—i don't wanna go. i'm sorry, okay? you guys go ahead."

felix frowns. "but everyone's looking forward to being complete."

"' _everyone_?' you sure?" the barista asks, an eyebrow quirked up as if he's challenging felix.

at that, the freckled boy's shoulders sag and he lets out a noise in surrender. "okay, fine. i don't know about your 'mans' but don't get me wrong, everyone else is expecting you there. come on, do it for chan hyung!"

"minho is not my 'mans', excuse you." seungmin pulls out the cheesecake from the second shelf.

"come on, seungmin, please?" jisung pleads.

seungmin shuts the display door with vigor with his left hand, the plate of cheesecake perfectly balanced on his right. "no."

jisung sighs from the other side of the counter. "but it's for chan!"

"i know."

the door to the back opens and wonpil steps in, jisung and felix greeting him with less enthusiasm as he reads the situation.

"ugh," he grumbles, "don't tell me this has something to do with minho."

"this is exactly about minho!" seungmin snaps, practically dropping the whole cheesecake on the counter. "i mean what else could it possibly be about? if that boy hadn't shown up, i could've been living my best life! but _no_. he had to be in our friend group and he just _had_ to be super nice to all of them except me," seungmin huffs, pulling the cake knife out of the rack to take a slice of jisung's favorite dessert.

"seungmi—"

"and then he got _suuuuper_ close with the others and we just can't hang out without him and i get it! he's an amazing person, an amazing friend but why is he extra annoying around me? i mean—i know the first time we met we basically almost fought each other to death because there was only one bottle of that goddamned banana milk in the store down the street but that's so long ago! is he still mad at me for that? and—"

"seungmin, look—" felix tries but fails.

"he just always, always, _always_ comes to this café to bother me, spewing some shit about this place having the best stuff but there's literally another branch around the corner, the franchise is big!"

wonpil looks serious, eyes squinting as he observes his brother who only continues to ramble off and probably thinking of how he could possibly help the younger. "and then minho—he just _never_ stops annoying me even when we pass by each other on campus. like, what the fuck even? but when all of us go out together, he'd steer clear of me. and then when he actually ends up talking to me, he'd say some stupid shit about me having a pimple on my forehead or something, like, so what? it's _my_ body, why does he care about my pimple when it's _mine_. just—why is he so _obsessed_ with me?"

"hey—"

" _what, felix!_ " seungmin glares at the freckled boy and jisung grimaces.

from the side, wonpil hums, "you're paying for that or mom's killing us."

seungmin looks down at the now unidentifiable slice of cheesecake he unconsciously mauled to pieces and his brother only disappears into the back room with cartons of milk.

"look, seungmin," jisung fixes the beanie over his head. "we get it. you both have this weird rivalry or, i don't know, tom and jerry thing going on but i swear, chan just wants all of his closest friends there with him to celebrate his birthday. and the _seven_ of us are his closest friends. we're his little family!"

seungmin easily picks up another slice of cheesecake to put on a smaller plate for jisung. "it's just a day and a half anyway," jisung pleads, lower lip jutted out in a pout. "this can also be the turning point of your questionable relationship with minho! maybe after this you guys could be 'okay friends' or something. this is like—like the climax! then the both of you could smoothly sail down to 'good terms' land!"

seungmin snorts at that. ‘ _okay friends and good terms land’ his ass_. grabbing a cup from the rack, the barista works on felix's drink, “i don’t know, ji.”

"how about i convince minho to stay away from you the whole trip?" the freckled boy suggests, a huge grin plastered on his face.

seungmin chokes on air at that. _is he serious?_ "that's tempting but no. i'm not a kid who needs protecting from their bully—no—not bully." felix suggestively wiggles his eyebrows at that and seungmin takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down because _minho is not a good reason to go all fussy over_. "just—okay, he comes off as rash and insufferable and deeply annoying for me but he's still a 'friend' and, you know, i'm still trying my best to be civil."

"' _friend?'"_ jisung's face scrunches up in confusion. "i—god, you're both so difficult to understand."

felix nods. "i agree."

"there's nothing to understand!" seungmin exclaims, pouring milk into the blender. "we just—tom and jerry, okay?"

"but you still consider him a friend?" felix retorts.

"acquaintance," seungmin corrects, "we're both in the same friend group, after all. and this is me being civil."

felix pulls a funny face at that, like he's calculating numbers in his head.

after a few seconds of silence between the three, jisung speaks up with sparkles in his eyes. "so you're going?"

seungmin brings down the cup of chocolate chips on the counter with a loud thud. "goddammit—no!"

  
  


♡

  
  


seungmin was first to arrive at their meet-up point: the 7/11 right around the corner of mcdonald's.

the place was, thankfully, pretty empty so he left his belongings in the corner where the part-timer could see them. he can't risk getting robbed just because he was buying a hotdog and around a thousand bags of chips.

it took a little more convincing to get him here. seungmin was pretty set on sitting it out because he preferred not seeing or being around minho for a day _and_ a half, he's pretty sure the older feels the same, too.

and the thought of staying home during break was _very_ tempting.

but then the day after jisung's mini tantrum and felix's whining in the café, wonpil also tried his best to convince (more like _threatened_ ) seungmin into joining the trip.

("if you don't go just because of minho, i'll give him a discount forever."

seungmin doesn't budge, only stays quiet as he thinks it over.

"and, min, you know he won't pass up an opportunity for discounted drinks and cakes everyday either," wonpil says with a teasing lilt to his voice. "everyday, min. _everyday_."

"okay, fine! i'm going!")

so he's stupid and easily manipulated, what about it? he can _never_ physically and emotionally prepare himself to see minho at least a dozen times a day after the trip just because wonpil had given him discounts to the café so no thank you.

the trip's just a day and a half anyway. just a day and a half with the bestest people in his life. (wonpil should've come, chan would've said yes anyway.)

so, a day and a half on the road with _some_ of the bestest people in his life.

  
  


_and minho._

  
  


seungmin sucks in a breath. _god knows what will happen on this trip._

"fancy seeing you here, kim."

speak of the devil and he shall appear. seungmin takes it back _, god already hates him._

feeling minho's gaze on him, seungmin tears his eyes away from the slurpee machine and hugs his finely picked assortment of chips tighter to his chest. minho's standing beside him, clad in another hoodie seungmin's seen him wear at least thrice before and a pair of metal-rimmed heart-shaped sunglasses, lens tinted an awfully blinding shade of pink, sitting high on the bridge of his nose.

all that and minho still manages to look like a functioning member of society at 3 am in the morning.

yet this devil also looks like he's torn between cramming an essay and going for a swim at his 5 year-old nephew's teen beach-themed birthday bash.

getting back on track, seungmin sneers. "you're early."

the corners of minho's lips turn upward despite the short greeting and the taller of the two makes his way back to the chips aisle.

minho follows. "yep," he replies, popping the _'p',_ "wanted to see your ugly face immediately."

seungmin glowers at him _._ "just kidding," the convenience store fills with minho's cackles, "i'm early because i was too excited. woke up twenty minutes early and i got my stuff and now i'm here, baby."

seungmin ignores the pet name, it's been ages since minho started calling everyone and everything cheesy and disgusting pet names so he's developed a tolerance to them. the younger only nods, scanning the row of pringles on the upper shelf and thinking a bit too deeply about what he'd prefer to eat on the road to their first destination.

then, before he knew it, his chips were pried away from his limbs and seungmin looks at the thief with a stern look. in return, the older raises a small basket up to his face and in it lies some items he assumes are minho's.

"now i'm about to blow your mind but there's these things called baskets and, look—" he holds up the packets of junk food seungmin was previously clutching onto and tosses them in— "they can hold your stuff for you! now, isn't that amazing?"

seungmin gives him an unsure look and snorts. "you look ridiculous."

minho gasps, a hand flying up to his sunglasses as he lowers them down the bridge of his nose. "i beg your fucking pardon?"

"why even bother wearing those horrible glasses when you can't even dress like you're owning it?"

"i put them on this morning while i was grabbing my things and i just kinda forgot i had them on." minho doesn't miss the full-on smile that seungmin represses.

the younger only turns to grab an orange can of pringles. "and you didn't even notice that the world's all pink and pretty?"

"well," a shrug comes from the older as he fixes his sunglasses back, a teasing grin back on his face, "i like the pink and pretty."

seungmin scoffs. "sure."

  
  


♡

  
  


the black pickup truck parked outside the store was pretty intimidating. chan's parents really got the cash.

hyunjin, changbin and jisung arrived shortly after minho and seungmin settled down on a table, their bags crowding around the floor. seungmin felt like he was in high school again, recalling the times when he had competitions outside the city and the team had to wait around in places like these with their baseball bats poking out from their backpacks. the first person to arrive always got the weird looks.

looking over the vehicle where the rest of their friends climbed down from, jisung's eyes widened in realization. "wait, isn't it illegal to ride in the cargo part?" he says, hunched over a tall cup of slurpee that seungmin already foresaw would be the reason for an early stop.

chan, felix and jeongin enter the store, the eldest pocketing his keys and greeting the others. "it isn't," hyunjin tells jisung. "i mean, it's not like we're children."

"what's up?" chan asks and changbin picks up a jelly from hyunjin's small bag of sweets. "jisung thinks it's illegal to ride on the back part of your pickup."

"in other countries, yeah," chan hums, "and we're adults, it's fine."

hyunjin points a jelly at jisung with a smile. "told ya." “i’m not exactly an adult either.” “jisung, i swear.”

"wait how many can sit inside, though?" minho asks and now that chan gets a good look at him, he raises an eyebrow at the sunglasses he refuses to take off.

"why do you—nevermind. it's for four to five people. if you squeeze together i think it's good for six but that's not allowed so that’s already a no. but i also doubt that any of you wanna squeeze a fifth person in there for the next four hours or something because—well that’s just gonna suck."

jisung visibly shakes in excitement. "i wanna ride in the back!"

“of course you do,” hyunjin scoffs.

"me too!” minho exclaims with a bright smile. changbin and jeongin follow with shrieks about sitting in the front and felix turns to chan with a look that says ‘i called shotgun to the passenger seat ever since you got this car’ and that was all it took to settle things between them.

well, at least seven of them.

  
  


♡

  
  


seungmin ends up in the back of chan’s truck with jisung, minho and hyunjin. it’s been at least 30 minutes since they departed from the convenience store and it’s been pretty eventful ever since.

the moment they climbed in, changbin and felix already started arguing about who takes the aux cord and jisung repeatedly apologizing to hyunjin in the background for dropping his bulky duffel bag on the older's foot in an attempt to fix their stuff in the back. and as soon as they hit the road, jeongin was out like a light amidst the thrumming bass shooting from their butts to every cell of their bodies at the music felix was playing. hyunjin then challenges jisung to a dance battle to which chan shouts a _'stay fucking still!_ ' at the two. they ended up dancing seated.

seungmin also ends up sitting beside minho which he only realizes not until an hour later. 

the older still has the embarrassing sunglasses sitting on the bridge of his perfect nose, beaming and laughing along to jisung and hyunjin's dance battle that regressed into a competition of who can make up the funniest interpretation of the music playing with the use of their limbs. (the best one so far was jisung with his contemporary take on fergalicious.)

minho must've felt seungmin's eyes on him because he meets the younger's gaze and a gentler smile replaces the previous grin he had.

"what, finally realized how madly in love you are with me?"

jisung's laughter echoes through the wind as seungmin smacks a hand down hard on minho's arm, causing the older to curl up and hold onto his arm with a hurt expression while hyunjin erupts in a fit of high-pitched giggling in the background.

changbin turns in his seat from up front to peer at them through the window, "you guys good?"

"kim just broke my arm!" minho shouts.

"seungmin broke what?"

"my arm!"

"your car?"

"no, changbin. my arm!"

changbin shifts, "your heart?"

hyunjin's whole body shakes with his own snickering while seungmin stares at him with concern. _this is a mess._

but nonetheless, minho also joins in on the laughter, sputtering a bit in an attempt to correct changbin. "no, i meant—whatever. yeah, he broke my heart!"

changbin gives him a confused look as the older shrugs.

"seungmin's laughing!" jisung wheezes across them.

"do _not_ make me kick you off this car."

  
  


♡

  
  


the first stop was an amusement park. it wasn't too big, just some space the size of at least five convenience stores put together and sectioned off near the parking of a mall in the city en route to the next destination on the list: chan's actual house.

it was still bright out, but thankfully the rays of the 10 am sun didn't sear their body hairs off and seungmin could avoid asking for some sunscreen because he forgot some of his own.

chan had kindly bought them tickets for three rides each and jisung had asked him how much it cost but he only grinned and said something about his mom's card. but it's not the first time chan had done something even moderately illegal so they just let him go.

they got through two rides without jisung excreting his breakfast and hyunjin losing his voice, it must've been their lucky day. though minho almost lost his sunglasses at the mini-gyro drop, shouting "i hate this!" with his eyes screwed shut while they get tossed up and down the ride. felix almost cried, too.

it was a matter of breathing exercises and loud, exaggerated versions of each of their point of views on the last two rides when they got off that horrible thing. then, as if his intestines weren't tangled enough from all the rides they've went on, the eldest offered to go for some lunch. nonetheless, the group happily skipped to the nearest food stalls with the widest grins at the promise of food.

hyunjin and changbin lines up for hotdogs while the others sit at a small table settled nearby, waiting for the two to bring their lunch. seungmin doesn't like the idea of stuffing another hotdog down his throat, though, opting to take the time to rest instead. so he stays silent.

but his stomach refuses to do so.

"you good?"

seungmin eyes minho from the side. "yep."

his stomach proves him wrong with another growl, earning him a strange look from the older.

"hyunjin and changbin are next in line so don't worry," he supplies. "why are you frowning? stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles."

it takes minho another second before he makes a noise as it dawns on him. "ah. alright. you don't have to eat the same thing just because they want to."

"well," seungmin starts, "i haven't exactly seen other stalls either so..."

minho hums. "come on, then. let's walk around and see if you'd like anything." he stands up and the rest of the boys glance up at him only to return to what they were previously doing. they know he could manage to get back to them, minho's a genius in navigating.

seungmin only stares at his figure who turns around to face him with an expectant expression before disappearing into the crowd. what a nerd.

a voice inside seungmin's head tells him to just leave minho wandering alone, a small part of him smiling at the harsh but fun idea. but he might starve to death so _no_.

he gets up on his feet and catches up to the older.

“do you want anything in particular?”

seungmin only hums, throwing options around his mind as he tries to figure out what he’s craving for at the moment. after a few more seconds of contemplating, he shrugs, “sweet?”

“what?”

“i don’t know, i’m craving something sweet.”

the older lights up at that, “i saw a stall for waffles earlier, wanna try that?”

_that doesn’t sound so bad._

seungmin must’ve said it out loud because minho snorts. “waffles are _never_ so bad.” seungmin rolls his eyes and minho leads the way to where he previously saw the stall.

spending at least two minutes searching for food, they end up going for churros instead. it turns out that minho saw a poster of a mini-pancake stall instead of waffles, earning him a glare from seungmin whom he then steered into the nearest stall to make up for his mistake, the younger gladly stuffing himself some deep-fried cholesterol and chocolate.

after eating, the eight of them proceeded to the eldest’s car, hopping in and making themselves comfortable for their next destination: the rumoured oh-so-heavenly bang household.

seungmin finds himself thinking of how to repay minho on the way to incheon. well, minho did tell him that it was okay and that he insisted on treating the younger.

but he still couldn’t let it go. seungmin hates the feeling of being indebted. and seungmin _also_ hates minho. he isn’t sure why he reminds himself of this but here he is. he hates minho. yep, he _does_. maybe a little less than before. but he still hates him.

and he certainly hates how he has no idea how to repay the older’s kindness.

but as he looks at the boy in question who is currently trying to hold his head up steady as he battles with inertia and sweet sleep, seungmin lets his previous thoughts slip as he reaches out for the older.

hyunjin’s asleep in front of them, jisung draped over what seems to be his duffel bag wrapped in a towel and the other boys all quietly chatting about something up at the front. but these factors don’t justify the unknown reason on why seungmin’s acting like this, like he’s scared that he’s gonna get caught doing something completely nice and _questionably sweet_? he doesn’t know either.

and before he could even process what he’s about to do, he tugs minho’s head to his shoulder, letting him rest his weight on him so he could sleep peacefully and avoid all potential accidents where he could possibly end up with his face smashed against the side of the car.

it doesn’t take minho another second to unconsciously accept the kind gesture, flopping onto seungmin's shoulder like a corpse and the younger sneers at the added weight. a small part in him, yet again, wants to push minho off to see his reaction and _man_ would it be funny. but seungmin only looks. he stares at minho’s long eyelashes that he does admit are _very_ pretty.

minho looks so gentle like this, looks like he isn’t about to say something so witty yet annoying about seungmin’s presence, looks like a shroudy cat all tired from running around the place while their owner was out. it’s funny but at the same time the tiniest bit endearing, at least 0.1% endearing.

the car jolts momentarily as it goes over a small bump and seungmin holds minho steady, hand flying up to the side of the other boy’s head. at the action, the older only snuggles closer to him, mumbling incoherently and his nose touching the junction between seungmin’s torso and neck. the younger doesn’t mind, though. and he _should_. but, right now, all he thinks about is the fact that maybe this could be his own form of payment for his lunch today and, from that alone, maybe he doesn’t really have to mind it after all.

a snore escapes minho’s mouth and seungmin only prays that he doesn’t drool on him.

but it’s okay. so, he keeps minho there.

  
  


♡

  
  


minho woke up with his face squished against his own gym bag and seungmin's head leaning against the side of the car, reading something on his phone.

he frowns.

he was so sure that he ended up sleeping on the younger's shoulder. but it may have just been a dream.

but then if it was indeed a dream, he silently wishes that dream minho woke up with dream seungmin smiling back down at him again.

  
  


♡

  
  


the bang household was indeed very heavenly. the eight boys had arrived before it got too dark and upon entering, the group was greeted by chan’s family and an overly enthusiastic dog that seemed to hate only hyunjin. jisung, of course, took the opportunity to tease the boy because of it.

it was nice to see them all again, seungmin’s been really excited about it ever since chan had brought it up. he had spent a decent amount of time with chan’s parents when they helped chan move into his dorm and seungmin dropped by. hannah had tagged along that time and they formed a special bond as they shared the same interests (art and singing) and the same hobbies (teasing chan, especially). it was very easy to get along with the bangs and, of course, it was also very easy to miss them a lot.

after squealing about how much lucas had grown from the last time they saw him, the boys settled into the house, heaving their bags up the stairs and into the guest room. (room as in singular; it was enough for a small daycare room which was exactly what it became as soon as they stepped in.)

chan had pointed out that at least three of them could take the bed in the room and the other five could take the sleeping bags they had somewhere in the garage or something. but before anyone could take the bed for themselves, lucas had called them down to prepare for the barbecue.

the house got _super_ busy. with mr. bang and hyunjin grilling meat in the backyard and changbin, hannah and jeongin cracking up jokes here and there while setting the table up. chan and jisung were making drinks on the side while jisung mostly contributes by waving the mosquitoes off the older. it was like christmas came early.

in the kitchen, lucas had taken the duty of washing the vegetables with felix as seungmin chops them up to give to mrs. bang who was in charge of cooking with minho. the kitchen was like a busy restaurant, minho being the assistant and doing everything mrs. bang had asked him to do. he did his tasks with ease and efficiency, even helping in whatever crisis chan’s mom had encountered while cooling the oven down to get the smoke alarm to shut the fuck up.

to say the least, seungmin was impressed. he unconsciously stole glances at the older across the table from time to time because he's quite astonished of minho. music was blasting from outside, courtesy of jisung and his choice of songs to mix drinks with. though with every song that plays, minho seems to already know the tune.

“stop staring at him, he might melt.” seungmin jumps from the sudden interruption caused by felix who had whispered into his ear before going outside to find chan. he feels offended.

though if that was a whisper, it didn’t seem like it as minho looks up from the egg rolls he had been cutting up with a teasing smile. _the_ teasing smile. “got caught?”

the younger scoffs bitterly, “caught? i wasn’t even doing anything.”

minho just shrugs, going back to his work. “okay, seung.”

a beat. the older seems to realize what he had done and his eyes widen as seungmin looks at him with a questioning glare. mrs. bang walks past with a platter of cooked vegetables and the older stands up from his seat, jogging to the woman but gets shooed away instead.

“it’s fine, dear, i can manage.” she steps out the door before pausing to look over to the remaining boys in the place. “lucas, help your sister with the rice, will you? she’s been complaining that she’s been standing for too long. and the two of you,” she grins yet it felt like it was aimed at the older, “please look over the sulguk, it hasn’t boiled yet.”

and just like that, minho and seungmin were left alone in the kitchen.

  
  


♡

  
  


“mom, did you just leave them? _alone_?” chan had whispered as his mother stands beside him.

“what, i thought i could give them a little push, you know?”

“mom, they might _actually_ end up pushing and stabbing each other to death with those carrots.”

his mom waves him off, “whatever, minho could handle it, i’m sure.”

  
  


♡

  
  


retreating to look over the big pot on the stove, minho removes his gloves and wipes the sweat on his temple. seungmin follows him, carrying the cutting board he’d been chopping vegetables on and pulls on the kitchen roll beside the stove, throwing a sheet to minho’s face as he steps beside him with a snicker.

“well, gee, thanks,” the older remarks in a sarcastic tone and seungmin replies to him with a curtsy while he places the cutting board down the counter.

they stare at the soup in silence, neither of them moving or talking until the younger moves to finally pour the vegetables in when it started to bubble. but before he could even throw the vegetables in, minho stops him with a hand over his and seungmin stills.

“what—“ “you put the bean sprouts and the spring onions last, kim.”

seungmin stutters out an _“okay”_ before proceeding to add the other ingredients in, mentally cursing himself for not knowing shit about cooking. 

not even a second later, minho leans into his space and seungmin could only freeze at the proximity.

his chest almost comes in contact with seungmin's, their faces a mere two inches apart and minho’s _so_ close that he could count every eyelash and fading acne scar on the older’s face. he could even see all the little dips and crevices on his face, all the little imperfections he'd never seen before. after all, he hasn't really paid much attention to whatever minho had on his stupid face. _his stupid pretty face_ , seungmin's brain supplies.

and being up close with pretty faces does things to your heart so it was natural for seungmin's to beat rapidly.

yeah, that must be the only reason, he's sure anyone else would react the same way.

minho suddenly clears his throat, snapping seungmin out of his trance.

"what?" seungmin could only whisper, voice and mentality still weak because _why the fuck is minho not moving away?_

"you're, um," the older looks to his own arm, extended from seungmin's side, "you're in the way."

glancing over to the side, seungmin sees that minho has been trying to reach for the ladle all this time. _shit_.

"oh," _oh my god,_ _why do i sound so disappointed._ "yeah, i'll just—"

minho pulls back with the ladle in his hand, facing the pot and stirring the soup.

awkward silence. _again_. the music outside is still going but now there's just this tension in the air. seungmin wants to run out the kitchen but he doesn't want to abandon the poor spring onions and bean sprouts that he has yet to add in the damned soup.

"um," the older starts and seungmin almost jumps at that. "i got a text from your brother earlier."

"you did?"

"yeah." minho's eyes never leave the soup. "just told me to tell you that you suck."

seungmin snorts, "of course he'd do that."

the corner of minho's lip curls a bit. "no, i'm kidding. you don't suck, he just got worried because you weren't answering his texts so i told him that your phone died."

"oh." seungmin smiles. it couldn't be helped, he appreciates wonpil for checking up on him. and minho telling him that he doesn't suck. "thanks."

"no worries. just doing what i can for the kim siblings."

"yeah, whatever. but since when did you have each other's numbers?"

minho chuckles and seungmin follows, "what?"

"nothing, nothing."

"no, but really. i'm just curious." the younger shrugs to which minho slows down his movements.

"you could ask him ask him later." "what? you're literally right here, you could just tell me—" "time to add the bean sprouts now, kim."

"ugh."

"stop frowning."

dinner was a blur. every single plate on the table was an absolute gift to humankind and the boys were more than happy to finish everything. jisung had almost cried because the food was too _good_ when hannah disappeared into the kitchen only to come out with a cake, a shiny purple ' _2_ ' candle lit on the side with the frosting spelling out ' _happy bidet, chris!_ _XD!1!1!_ ' thanks to felix's decorating skills.

then came the night, the eight boys settling in the guest room after tidying up (of course changbin took care of almost everything after losing a game of rock, paper, scissors) and unrolling sheets and sleeping bags on the floor while the others took the bed.

they plan on watching a movie. but hyunjin is taking _too_ long to choose.

("who's picking?" jeongin had asked, flopping onto one of the sleeping bags and jisung latching onto him with a ' _caught ya._ '

chan hums, "dunno. i'm down for anything."

a chorus of agreements fill the room and hyunjin uses the remote to flip through the movies netflix had to offer.)

seungmin uses the time to pick up his phone and text wonpil back.

**to: pil hyung**

im back hi

**from: pil hyung**

wow i thought that when u finally get back to me i’d have to introduce my grandchildren to u

**to: pil hyung**

youre so dramatic

wait i just read back

the bills are in the pink drawer btw

i had to get it away from the whiteboard bc the magnets kept falling into the sprinkles bag

**from: pil hyung**

tnx

i’ll get to them tomorrow, lia switched shifts w me bc she has a date with that ryujin kid in the afternoon so i had to convince mom

**to: pil hyung**

shes getting confident i see

**from: pil hyung**

she has twice the bravery you’ll ever have

n e ways

how’s the trip so far?

**to: pil hyung**

its nice

yeah its okay

**from: pil hyung**

…

just ‘okay’ ?

**to: pil hyung**

well

actually

better than what i expected

**from: pil hyung**

what did u expect in the first place anyway?

extreme hiking?

changbin would complain as soon as he stepped foot onto an inclined platform

**to: pil hyung**

HKZXMSJSJ

but nah

i just

idk

i just like it so far

ig i rlly did need this

**from: pil hyung**

that’s nice to hear

have u been getting along well with minho?

seungmin thinks for a moment, _has he been getting along well with minho?_ everything else had been fine and being with minho had _also_ been fine.

instead of annoying remarks or useless jokes, all that seungmin could recall is minho’s gentle smile, the ones directed to him or at least the ones that seungmin rarely sees but finds pretty.

minho is okay today.

**to: pil hyung**

yeah ig

**from: pil hyung**

you guess ?

**to: pil hyung**

yeah, hes fine

were fine today

:)

**from: pil hyung**

oooh development i c 👁

lol expect more of that in the remaining hours

**to: pil hyung**

???

tf is that supposed to mean

**from: pil hyung**

whatever u want it to mean 🤷

**to: pil hyung**

o kayyyy ?

oh btw

since when did u guys exchange numbers

**from: pil hyung**

what, afraid that we’re talking smack abt u behind ur back? 🥴

**to: pil hyung**

yeah ?

**from: pil hyung**

well nope

actually far from it

**to: pil hyung**

hm

seungmin joins jeongin, jisung and minho on the sleeping bags on floor, almost crushing minho’s leg before the older had pulled it away.

“you talking to wonpil hyung?” minho whispers beside him as hyunjin _finally_ picks a movie.

the younger nods, “we’re all good.”

“seungmin-ah, put your phone down, let’s watch the movie!” changbin chimes from the bed behind them as felix runs to switch the lights off.

“just a minute,” he singsongs, typing a quick message to his brother and telling him to have a good night’s sleep.

**from: pil hyung**

u too <3

enjoy the rest of the trip

bring me something back or i will kill ur houseplants <3

  
  


♡

  
  


they end up sleeping late with jeongin’s hand thrown over jisung’s face, hyunjin on the small twin bed with changbin and felix leaning against him while chan’s head rests on changbin’s lap.

seungmin had woken up in the middle of the night and the first thing he came in contact with was minho’s hand beside his. they’re leaning against each other, their backs against the bed and legs stretched out in front of them. before they drifted off to sleep, they had a few good inches apart.

but now, that distance had somehow dissipated into thin air.

there’s pain in his shoulder, his butt also going numb from the minutes they spent seated. he wants to lie down but it’s just his luck to realize that he can’t because jeongin’s so conveniently placed right where his feet could be and he can’t exactly move to lie down without coming in contact with the cold floor.

then minho also stirs awake, hand coming down to rest on seungmin’s and it was so _warm_ until minho retracts it as if he’d been burnt and the younger frowns at the action. _get it together, seungmin, sleep is much more important._

“my ass hurts.” minho rubs at his eyes.

seungmin lets out a quiet chuckle, “yeah well me too, you’re not so special.”

“it’s literally midnight, how can you still manage to insult me?”

“because i'm qualified to do so,” seungmin peels himself off of minho’s side, moving to sit up straight. “how the hell do we sleep, jeongin’s literally hogging all the leg space.”

minho sighs and looks over to the boy in question, “it’s like a damn tetris round in here.”

that seems to tickle seungmin’s humour as he snickers and minho follows, the corners of his lips turning upward. the room is quite dark, the moonlight barely contained by the curtains from the big-ass window. it was also cold, seungmin regrets not asking for a blanket beforehand.

“you cold?”

seungmin whips his head to face minho again only to shyly nod at the older who moves to take off his hoodie. (different from what he was previously wearing from the first time seungmin saw him that morning, it amazes him how many hoodies the older had managed to pack.)

“here—“ “what, no. you’ll get cold, then.” “you can always hug me to sleep if you’re _that_ concerned.” “shut up.”

seungmin slips his hands through the sleeves and pulls the hoodie over his head. it smells so much like minho, that febreze-bathing son of a bitch.

“uh—“ minho reaches up and seungmin freezes as he feels minho smooth down his hair. what a nerd. “there.”

“it’ll get all mussed up in the morning, you do know that, right?”

the older rolls his eyes and leans forward to ruffle seungmin’s hair to which he replies with a monotonous _'i hate you._ '

“then give me my hoodie back—” minho whispers but seungmin cuts him off by telling him a hushed 'goodnight,' leaving no room for argument as the younger scoots down to lie on his back, folding his knees up as minho watches him struggle to get comfortable.

silence settles around them as they try to get back to sleep but seungmin just _can’t_. “i can’t sleep like this, i surrender.”

there’s shuffling beside him and then he’s greeted with added warmth to his side. minho had scooted down as well except his body is turned to face the other boy, trying his best to keep his legs from kicking jeongin by hovering it over seungmin’s. “go face the other way.”

“what the fuck, no cuddling!” seungmin oh so quietly shrieks.

“what makes you think i’d—i literally am holding my arms to my chest right now. now go face the other way.”

“fine.”

from the bed, they hear light breathing turn into grumbling which then progressed onto full-on snores in the span of two minutes and seungmin suddenly giggles. he outright _giggles_.

“why are you laughing?”

“chan hyung is starting.”

another loud snore, changbin taps chan in his sleep with a mumbled _‘hyung’_ and minho pokes seungmin’s shoulder blade. “just go to sleep, you buffoon.”

they did end up sleeping like sardines squeezed in a can after that. morning slowly greets after that as well yet it was still so _fucking_ cold. minho had started shivering shortly after seungmin drifted off into dreamland but it wasn’t like he could do anything about the temperature in the room. he then settled into embracing the cold like how the cavemen did it back then. but it was still _so_ fucking cold by the time three a.m rolled around and if that wasn’t enough to wake minho up, the other boys’ hushed giggling and cooing did.

minho tries to peel his eyes open the tiniest bit and hears someone curse. “fuck, is he awake—i told you to turn the flash off, idiot!” “i did _not_ let you drool on my shoulder last night to be treated like this.”

he feels weight on his chest, keeping him warm for the moment but he could only try to figure out what’s happening around him in a daze. “ _w_ _hat_ ,” minho says but all that came out was a confused mumble, “what are you doing?”

“shhh, hyung, it’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

“’kay?” minho does as he’s told, nuzzling into whatever was in front of him. _smells like mint._

he falls asleep much faster this time, content and happy with the newfound warmth against his chest.

♡

  
  


hyunjin sends minho a picture the moment he wakes up.

after rolling around, a huge smile makes its way on his face at the sight of how cuddly seungmin could look when he’s not stomping around cursing minho in his mind, his head and arm thrown over the older instead.

♡

  
  


“good morning, seung,” jisung greets with a smile from the kitchen island, stirring his coffee as changbin opens the fridge behind him.

seungmin stares at him. “why are you teasing me?”

jisung snorts, “what makes you think i’m teasing you?”

“you have your teasing face on right now. now tell me, why am i being teased?”

the fridge door shuts and changbin walks to the cupboard to get a bowl. the boy looks like he’s been living in this house for more than a year, it’s scary. “well,” he sends seungmin a smile while retrieving a pink bowl, “look at what you’re wearing. where exactly did _that_ come from?”

seungmin does as he’s told, looking down at his feet. orange socks, the carebear pajama pants that chan had so kindly provided him yesterday after realizing that seungmin had forgotten to bring comfy pajamas, and then—

a purple hoodie. _minho’s_ purple hoodie that the older had insisted on letting him use last night.

“oh,” is all that he says as he recalls the struggles he and the older had encountered in the ungodly hours of night.

changbin and jisung seem to share the same, amused look, the older scoffing. “don’t worry, min. it looks cute on you.”

“hyung let me borrow it because i was cold last night, okay? it was nice.”

“of course he did,” jisung mumbles as he lifts his mug to his lips, slurping on the hot coffee. changbin laughs at that with a _‘ah, minho hyung, the man that he is.’_

“i’m—” seungmin looks back and forth between the two— “yeah, i have no idea what’s going on in here.”

from the side, chan enters the kitchen, handing changbin a charger with a huge smile that only got bigger when he saw seungmin. “oh hey, snuggly boy, you’re awake,” he says.

“uh,” seungmin trails off. ' _snuggly boy'_ yeah, okay.

_wait_.

it must’ve shown in his face because the others start laughing. “oh no.”

“oh _yes_ ,” jisung remarks.

“you saw?”

“min, everyone saw.”

“oh my god.” seungmin’s eyes are as wide as saucers, mouth open in shock as he processes the information, the _blackmail_ that could possibly be used to — well, blackmail him.

he opens his mouth to say something, closes it and repeats the same thing before composing himself. “everyone? as in _everyone_ saw?”

“saw what?”

seungmin had never turned around so fast in his life. there stands minho, in much comfier and warmer clothes, a towel carelessly thrown over his still dripping wet hair as he innocently scans the others’ faces all of a sudden.

“uh,” seungmin’s throat runs dry, “saw the uh—”

“the…?” minho eggs him on but jisung, being the little shit he is, sets his coffee down with a glint in his eyes. “oh, we were just talking about how we all saw you and seungmin c—“

“how you and i need to go outside to get some sunlight! come here.” before anyone could say anything else, minho was being pulled away by seungmin to the backyard and to the small swing set that chan had outgrown in the far corner, away from the prying eyes of their friends.

“you know you can’t exactly see something that was said verbally, right?” the older points out.

“yeah, i know,” seungmin rolls his eyes, sitting on the swing next to where minho had immediately settled in. their butts barely fit. “i was—”

“oh, is this about you cuddling me last night?”

seungmin’s breath hitches, _what the fuck!_

“what do you mean ‘what the fuck,’ you were practically the reason i didn’t freeze to death hours ago.”

seungmin's cheeks are _burning_ as he looks around, avoiding eye contact with minho. “yeah but—“

“aw, are you embarrassed?”

seungmin groans, “shut up. you were practically a shaking leaf in the wind so i hugged you in the absence of a blanket. it was the only thing to keep you from freezing your ass off!”

they both laugh at that, seungmin leans forward to get his seat to swing while minho faces him with a close-mouthed smile, “yeah, thanks.”

“for calling you a leaf?”

minho’s eyes crinkle up at the stupid question, “idiot, you know what i mean.”

“yeah, no. it’s no big deal, i have you to thank for this hoodie, too.”

“hey, you’re borrowing that, okay? that’s expensive,” the older nags and it makes seungmin smile.

there’s silence, much more comfortable than the previous ones they’ve shared. things have gotten a bit more comfortable with him for some reason. seungmin doesn’t know how it happened, doesn’t know that it _actually_ happened ‘til now.

it’s a bit of a mess but it’s okay. minho’s also a bit of a mess to be around with but it’s been okay, they’ve been at least the _tiniest_ bit okay since yesterday.

seungmin’s thoughts are cut off by minho clearing his throat. ”i, uh, heard that you weren’t originally gonna join the trip because i was joining too,” minho says like it’s no big deal. “don’t worry, i’m not, like, angry at you for that or anything, i totally get where you were coming from.”

seungmin just looks at him, hesitant and heart racing at the confrontation, _was it even a confrontation?_ but the older only continues, “i just, i don’t know, maybe got a little sad? i mean, not all people become friends as soon as they meet and i get it. you’re you, i’m me, we can’t exactly get along all the time because people always have at least one or two things that they disagree on. but yeah, i wanna say sorry for, you know, being annoying, being the reason you almost sat out on this trip and also kinda being the reason you’re also with us in this trip? yeah,” he nervously laughs in an attempt to lighten up the mood, “i think you get what i mean.”

seungmin is, yet again, shocked for the nth time in the span of an hour. _was minho being nice to him just so he could enjoy the trip? has he stopped minho from doing what he actually wanted to do just because seungmin could’ve found it irritating? did his brother just expose him? will he ever let wonpil live as soon as he gets home?_

”i guess it's fine?”

“are you asking me or—”

“no, i just—i forgive you. i wasn’t exactly that good to you either ever since we met, you know? i can’t even justify my actions because, honestly? i’ve been an ass to you.”

minho snorts, “yeah, kinda. but not as much as i was to you, though.”

“well, yeah, you teased me a lot and shit and i used that as an excuse to hate you for being this—this guy that i’ve been so jealous of.”

at seungmin’s confession, minho’s eyes widen. “you were _what_?”

“jealous,” the younger replies, “of you.”

“uhuh?”

“yeah," seungmin takes a deep breath, "and—don’t let this get to your head, i swear—you’re just really nice and funny and smart and good at almost eveything and you get along with everyone so well—“

“except you,” minho corrects.

“yes, except me.” seungmin rolls his eyes with a rather fond smile. “so i got jealous and i guess i hated you for being all of those that i ended up disliking time spent with you. i’m really sorry about that.”

“it’s fine,” minho lets out a sigh aimed at the sky, squinting from how bright the sun had gotten. “we all have reasons. i mean i also got the memo that you hated me and stuff but i still wanted to try and get your attention.”

“you just kept teasing me, though,” seungmin snickers.

minho hums. “yeah, didn’t know how else i could get your attention without being obvious, you know? so i just assumed that the best way was to annoy you back then.”

_huh._ “sorry, without being obvious about what exactly?”

minho leans his head against the chain attached to the swing, that stupid towel still on his head and the droplets of water from his hair dampening his shirt. _am i really gonna have to dry his hair off for him?_ seungmin thinks.

“about liking you,” minho says nonchalantly.

“liking me?”

“yeah. i have a crush on you.”

“you have a _what_ —have? present tense?”

minho turns to seungmin, trying his best not to laugh so loud. “yeah?”

“how— _me?_ ”

“i know, right?”

“do you normally confess to the people you like like this?”

the answer was almost too fast: “nope. you’re the first one i’ve ever really liked.”

seungmin's cheeks are past burning, it was like they'd explode from being too hot. “oh my god, how many more things am i not aware of?”

minho makes a noise. “not sure. a lot?”

“since when?”

“since changbin pushed you down the steps of the arts building and i was oh so conveniently placed right in front of you so i had to drop my books to catch your ass and chan and jeongin were just staring in shock.”

seungmin chokes on air and minho laughs. _this boy had the guts to tell me he likes me and proceeds to laugh at me choking on nothing, this little shit_ , he thinks. “almost two years ago? you literally told me i had a big pimple on my forehead that time, how could you have possibl—“

“i was gonna blurt out something like ‘wow, you’re quite pretty’ or some shit like that at the time but i kinda,” he lets out a nervous chuckle, “panicked.”

_oh._

“you lying piece of shit—“ “hey, but you did have a pimple!”

they burst into a fit of muffled laughter, seungmin throwing the older curses between breaths.

“and you wanna know something i realized just now?” minho asks after they’ve calmed down. seungmin encourages him to go on.

“the reasons you were jealous of me were some of the reasons i started liking you.” minho smiles, “isn’t that so weird?”

seungmin stares into the distance, into the house next to them where a dog yaps at its owner. so all this time he’s been looking at the things minho had, not aware that the older already sees them in him. when jeongin had told him about how similar he and minho were, he immediately shut the idea down, telling the younger that it was impossible but deep down, he was also wishing that they were indeed similar in even the tiniest ways or personalities because lee minho is _that_ person. lee minho is someone you can’t help but adore.

and seungmin _does_ adore him, it’s just really hard for him to express it in the way people would normally do.

“yeah. that’s— _wow_ ,” he breathes out.

“but, hey, i hope that you also know that i’d completely fuck off if you’d like me to. some people take these types of things well while others don’t so you’re more than welcome to tell me to fuck off.”

no way, there’s no way seungmin would do that. “well i’d be happy to tell you that i don’t mind at all. i’m just happy that you don’t hate me and we cleared some things up. but i don’t know what to say about the crush part, though.”

“you don’t have to say anything, don’t worry. i just wanted to be honest about why i acted like the way i did.”

“alright, i guess that’s fine. i—just so you know, i’m pretty sure i’d treat you the same as before though. but, of course, less of the ‘resenting you’ thing now. is that okay?” seungmin asks, minho nods eagerly with a quiet ‘ _more than okay_.’

“wait, so does this also mean that you’ll stop teasing me now that we‘re, like, good?” the younger adds.

minho pretends to think for a second. “mmm, nope. i don’t think i can live without that.”

“you ass.” seungmin hits minho on the arm.

“my arm!” “you mean your heart?”

groaning, minho tosses his head back, his towel falling to the grass. “changbin needs to get his ears checked, i swear. let me _live_.”

that causes seungmin to chortle, gripping the chains of the swing, “nope. _‘i don’t think i could live without that.’_ ”

“i hate you.”

“sure. now get your towel and dry your hair off properly, you toddler.”

minho grunts as he reaches for it and leans forward to hold it over his hands before shaking his head like a dog drying off its fur. seungmin shrieks at the childish behavior, shielding himself from the water being sprayed in his direction. “ah—hyung, i said properly!”

“this _is_ proper!”

“what about this is proper?” seungmin grabs the towel off minho’s hands, “come here.”

the older obediently follows, still holding his head low and towards seungmin’s hands who throws the towel over minho’s head and starts drying his hair off.

“you literal _child._ ”

“don’t call me that, call me baby— _ack_ —i’m sorry, i’m sorry!”

  
  


♡

  
  


from the living room, chan feels a wave of relief washing over him as watches from behind the curtain, the others shoved into the side and asking questions.

“hyung, are they kissing?”

changbin scoffs, “don’t be ridiculous, yen. they’re just talking, right chan hyung?”

“not sure,” the eldest grunts as he tries to keep the others from running out in the open and exposing themselves. “it looks like seungmin’s trying to strangle minho with a towel though.”

“what?”

  
  


♡

  
  


“ _mooom_ , where’s the big bucket?” chan’s voice resonates in the house as he steps inside.

after breakfast, chan’s dad had playfully teased his son about the pickup truck being so dusty and muddy ever since they let chan have it. chan, being chan, then whipped out the water hose and sponges to clean all the dirt off to prove that he's been taking of his beloved, black truck that he calls _stacy._

the other boys had also pretended to not notice the slow shift in minho and seungmin’s relationship after seungmin had bursted into the living room as minho chased him because he _actually_ did try to strangle the older with his own towel that morning. it was a sight they thought they’d never live to see.

as chan tumbles out the living room with a bucket and soap wash, seungmin, changbin and jisung had quickly offered him some help.

“jisung, scrub at your part! why are you scrubbing mine?” changbin had whined, wiping off his sweat with his forearm.

they took the car out to the front minutes before, oblivious to the extreme heat the sun had in store for them and causing them to laugh at chan who seems to get redder under the sunlight.

(“ _ooooooohh_ , changbin hyung in a tank top!” hyunjin had teased. the older was, indeed, in a tank top, jokingly flexing his biceps as he walks to the car.

jisung was laughing when he spotted chan by the side. “hyung are you okay? you seem red.”

“it’s my skin, i—this is normal, yeah.”)

“i’m not! this is clearly my part!” the younger between the two defended, motioning his wet sponge to the side of the truck and drawing an imaginary line.

seungmin calls their attention, crouched beside the wheel. “please don’t tell me you guys would start fighting over this.”

jeongin emerges from the front door and ran to hyunjin with a plate of fresh fruits, “minho hyung has drinks.”

“why are you bringing those to hyunjin, he’s not even doing anything,” chan whines at the youngest.

“ji, you’re getting all the soap where i already washed it off!” “hyung, this part hasn’t even been touched by water yet, what do you mean you already washed it off?” “i washed it off earlier and it dried!”

a stack of cups on one hand and a pitcher of pineapple juice on the other, minho carefully trudges to the table in chan’s yard, shouting a _‘hey, drinks are here if you want any!’_ as felix joins him on the table. jeongin places the plate down and hyunjin happily follows, chan also dropping his dirty sponge to a nearby bucket and skipping over to where the food was.

“han jisung!” changbin shouts, irritated, “if you keep getting soap on this door, i’m changing my netflix password!”

“guys, can you pass me another sponge?” seungmin asks from the side, behind jisung.

“hyung, you did the _other_ door, not this one.”

“guys. can i _please_ have another sponge.”

“no, you—jisung, i literally saw you go over this spot thrice. not even twice— _thrice.”_

“the fuck? no, i didn’t!” “yes, you so clearly _did!?_ ”

seungmin just watches them with a distasteful glare. “hey, cut it out.”

they don’t seem to hear, though. changbin’s grip on the water hose only tightens as jisung defends himself and the others chatter behind them, busy babbling about the sticky, hot weather.

as jisung turns his whole body towards changbin’s direction, seungmin’s attention is drawn back to them. “you’re imagining things!” the smaller exclaims, throwing a hand-sized soap sud to the older, barely hitting his shoulder. this makes seungmin stop at his scrubbing, getting ready to interfere.

“and you’re ignoring things!” changbin shouts back, aiming the water hose at jisung and squeezing the handle to spray water.

water shoots from the tip of the hose.

except jisung ducks.

and seungmin now stands with drenched clothes in the bangs’ parking lot under the raging hot sun that randomly graced them in cold, dreadful october.

“oh fuck,” changbin says under his breath.

water travels from the younger’s hair and down his chin, closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath in. “i just wanted another goddamn sponge.”

the others are frozen solid: jeongin stares with wide eyes, hyunjin’s mouth hanging open, hand getting wet as juice spills from his overflowing glass, courtesy of chan, changbin’s hands empty as he puts them up in surrender, jisung now standing in shock in front of the younger, and minho—

minho only bursts into laughter, loud and high-pitched. and the others look at him with fear for that, scared at what seungmin would do to the boy. and seungmin _did_ do something.

to changbin.

he grabs the water hose and turns to the older, spraying him back twice the amount of water he had drenched seungmin with. “that’s for getting me wet.”

another spray aimed at jisung. “that’s for ignoring me.”

then he turns around, spraying minho much longer than he did with the other two.

minho blinks, hair now sticking to his forehead and spreading his arms out, “what the _fuck_ , kim?”

“you were laughing at me,” seungmin grins at him.

“little _shit_ ,” minho lunges at him and chaos ensues as changbin tries to get back at jisung by throwing a sponge to his face, chan trying to chase minho down from possibly smacking seungmin unconscious, hyunjin and felix trying to hold changbin and jisung back, the four of them soon throwing soap suds at each other.

seungmin hides behind jeongin who only shrieks as minho crashes into him, getting his clothes damp, too. after a few rounds, chan manages to catch minho who shouts after seungmin. but the younger only ignores the older to break off the fight with the bubbles as he showers the four boys with water.

“mom, they’re getting the front yard all wet,” lucas says from the window, hannah beside him, watching the boys with a huge smile.

mrs. bang appears beside them and chuckles. “it’s fine. as long as they look like that,” she motions to their beaming faces, washed with water and hairs a dripping mess, “then it’s fine.”

“yeah,” hannah adds, “it’s also nice to see chris this happy even though they’re all just running around and shit.”

“ _hannah_.” “running around and _stuff._ ”

their mom walks away and lucas follows, disappearing into the kitchen for a snack while hannah stays by the window, filming the whole scene on her phone to possibly use against chan if he ever gets knocked out or something by his friends. she’s seen things before and there’s nothing to doubt about her brother’s friends since they all seem to find a way to do the impossible.

her camera follows chan, hoping that changbin could finally catch him because the older had bumped into him earlier. her brother runs around the car, appearing from the back with changbin at his tail who lets out a battle cry when chan passes _them_. ‘them’ as in seungmin now seated on the grass, close to passing out from the running and the glinting light reflecting from the car and minho who emerges from behind, throwing a towel over the younger’s head like it was a tabletop and stepping near the car.

seungmin only stares at minho’s back as he tells the others off to go clean themselves as they were running tight on time and traffic could get worse on the way back home. the boys did, in fact, clean up.

and hannah pans the camera as seungmin smiles at minho unknowingly, oblivious to everything else that was happening around him.

“oh, mr. kim,” she sighs, stopping the recording and observes instead, “you are one whipped friend.”

  
  


♡

  
  


packing up didn’t take much of their time, it was mostly backpacks and gym bags that they stuffed their belongings in. while they got their bags into the truck, seungmin had sat on the stairs to the porch, patting berry on his lap.

looking over the past day he had spent with his friends, it wasn't really much in terms of where they've gone and what activities they've done. but he's glad that he could safely say that they actually _did_ do a lot. they laughed and danced and sang, they cooked and watched movies and played uno ‘til their throats hurt from too much screaming. it wasn’t much of a surprise, though. things are always extra special when you’re with friends.

maybe he’s glad that they really tried to persuade him into joining the trip, quite happy that wonpil really tried — except he had to involve café discounts and minho.

yeah, _minho_. he kinda feels bad that the older had to know about it, how seungmin didn’t like the idea of minho going to the café everyday that he just had to join the trip.

but things are at least a tiny bit better right now. they’re okay, they’re moving towards… better things?

well it certainly didn’t help when minho had just confessed this morning and, now, seungmin seems to catch himself staring at the boy more or observing him from afar only to look away with heated cheeks or with his heart pounding wildly in his chest. seungmin didn’t take the confession badly at all, more or less just accepted the whole situation well — and maybe some gears have turned inside his head and he kinda feels funny around the older now. it wasn't bad either, it's just _new_.

hannah pops up beside him, interrupting his thoughts. “don’t tell me you’re bringing our dog with you to seoul.”

“maybe i should, i need the company.”

a snicker comes from the girl beside him, “you already have minho, though. he'd drop anything for you and, from what i'm seeing, you'd do the same.”

seungmin stammers, feeling his cheeks heat up when they absolutely _shouldn’t_. “tsk, we—no, what?”

“you aren’t so subtle either. you’ve been drooling over him ever since we met. minho this, minho that.”

“i hated him.”

“yeah,” hannah shrugs, “but you sure did talk about him _a lot_. i even had to ask my brother if you really disliked him because you didn’t stop saying shit about him!”

“whatever,” seungmin groans.

“what, you’re not even gonna defend yourself?” the girl challenges, wearing the same smile chan has when he teases his friends.

seungmin scoffs. “what’s the point? you’re gonna read me well, anyway.”

“what can i say, i’m the best in mind-reading and fortune-telling.”

“fortune-telling? the hell are you talking about?”

“oh, you didn’t know?” seungmin shakes his head. “mom bought me cards to read and i’ve been reading about fortune-telling. want me to read your future?”

“yeah, sure?”

hannah makes a big deal of putting her hands on top of seungmin’s head and closing her eyes. she hums and the other looks at her with curiosity. “what?”

“interesting. i see that you’ll fall in love with your sworn ‘ _enemy_ ,’ lee minho, at some point in the future.” she starts laughing and retreats her hands as seungmin shakes them off his head.

“i hate you.”

“yeah, okay. but who do you not hate? minho?”

"you're overdoing it, hannah." seungmin rolls his eyes at that and hannah only laughs harder.

after calming down, she pats berry and runs her hand up and down the dog’s body. “no, but seriously, i’m just gonna tell you that it’s completely okay to take time with all your feelings. i’m sure he understands, i'm not saying this to guilt-trip you but if he had been pining over your ass ever since, it wouldn’t hurt him to wait or something. and it’s also absolutely fine if you don’t, you know, like him back. he’ll be fine with being just friends as well, you know?”

the boy only hums, “i guess being friends would be nice for now but i don't know, i guess time will only tell.”

a softer smile replaces the previous grin on hannah’s face, “exactly.”

“hey, how do you know so much about this? aren’t you a bit too young to be allowed to date?”

"you call that 'so much?'" hannah teases, shrugging as she moves to lean in to whisper: “but then chris has his own ‘seungmin’ he’s been pining after, as well, you know?”

seungmin lifts his eyes to search for chan who he easily spots beside changbin in the back of the truck, helping jisung arrange all the bags in an orderly manner while the corners of his mouth almost meet his ears from how big he’s smiling from something changbin had said.

and that certainly confirms it.

“he asked you for advice?” seungmin asks the girl beside him who, in return, nods with a proud smile.

“he’s,” hannah takes a deep breath, “still working up the guts to do anything, though. but i told him it’s fine. if the day comes that he’ll confess, then that should be a day where he’d have no regrets. as long as changbin understands, i trust that chris could either sleep that day with a friend he’d hold close to his heart and a lesson _or_ a boy to pour his love to for eternity. either way, i’d still be here to stay with chris, though.”

a hum comes from seungmin, agreeing with small pats on berry’s head. it makes sense. falling in love with a friend comes with the fear of losing them, it’s always one way or the other. you either end the day with them or without them and that’s scary.

“but hey, stop thinking too much. you're here to enjoy the trip with them so stop worrying about anything for now, got it?"

"yep," seungmin smiles, "got it."

"seungmo!" felix shouts from the truck, "time to go! where's jeongin?"

that certainly gets seungmin up, passing berry over to hannah with a farewell as jeongin emerges from the house with a few snacks lucas had given him. the younger tangles his arm with seungmin, pulling him over to the car where the others had peacefully settled in.

"oh look, you’re stuck with them again,” jeongin muses as minho, jisung and hyunjin send him the widest grins, striking the lamest poses they could muster.

seungmin groans, frown soon breaking into a huge smile as he climbs onto the truck.

  
  


♡

  
  


“look, a beach!” jisung points behind minho’s head.

“excuse me?” the older scoffs.

“the sea!” jisung shouts over the booming music changbin had put on, he managed to steal the aux from felix earlier.

minho cranes his neck as the others do the same, taking pictures with their phones as they roll the windows from up front and enjoying the view beside the road they were on.

jeongin screeches, screaming about something getting in his eye as chan laughs and hyunjin tries to move to the left to take a picture of the sea without seungmin blocking the view, jisung crying about his hair getting too mussed up from the wind.

holding his phone up and twisting his body to take a picture, minho manages to take a few shots of the sea, glistening from the afternoon sun that meets it from above. it’s peaceful, everything seems to be in place and it makes minho happy.

from the corner of his eyes, he sees seungmin, hair looking like a bloody nest made by some bird in the wilderness and eyes looking like they’d almost disappear from smiling too hard.

minho had noticed something about seungmin the few weeks they first met, constantly hanging out with the others. he noticed how his eyes would get uneven when he’s too happy. but minho likes it, finds it cute. the corners of seungmin’s lips would also often curve upward like a puppy’s while laughing. and his chuckles would usually be a bit too nasal when he’s genuinely amused, only to be imitated by their friends. and the apples of his cheeks would always bunch up from being too excited about something and throwing his head back from wheezing too hard at some joke his friends have said. everything about him was and _is_ pretty.

seungmin had always been pretty.

“now _you’re_ staring,” mutters seungmin.

minho offers him curious look, “does it make your heart flutter?”

“i’d honestly throw you off this car if i was strong enough.”

“i’ll take that as a yes.”

seungmin chuckles, raising a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun when he hears a bit of shuffling from the side and feels a pair of small metal sticks meet the sides of his head.

minho had put his sunglasses on seungmin.

“these are so fucking pink.”

the older laughs, “hey, they’re pretty.”

“it’s because i’m wearing them.”

“you’re right,” minho admits. “you’re pretty.”

he only gets an eye roll from the younger but minho saw how seungmin fought a smile at the compliment.

  
  


♡

  
  


everyone else had managed to slip into sweet sleep on the ride back. well, except for chan and changbin who were still talking about their upcoming projects like they were the only two people in the world.

and then there’s seungmin at the back, getting flashbacks from the last time this happened. because, yet again, there he is, lee minho fast asleep beside him, head bobbing up and down from the car’s shaking and jolting awake when he tips his head too low or too far back from exhaustion.

so, just like he did yesterday, seungmin lets the older’s head rest on his shoulder again but not before scooching closer to make them both more comfortable.

minho seemed to sense the sudden action, though, trying his best to keep his eyes open to blearily stare at seungmin. “this okay?”

“i wouldn’t have let you lean on me if it wasn’t okay.”

the older hums an ‘okay’ against seungmin’s shoulder, letting his weight rest on the younger.

“sleep well.” minho rubs his cheek against seungmin’s cardigan, his way of lazily nodding.

soon enough, seungmin also feels sleep tugging at his eyelids and allows himself to rest his head against minho’s.

before completely slipping into dreamland, he hears hyunjin mumble an incoherent ‘finally’ across them.

  
  


♡

  
  


“welcome back, now what did you get me?”

seungmin scoffs as he crashes onto the couch where wonpil sat, reading a book. the fireplace was lit and he’s so glad that the house was _so_ warm, a win for the younger boy as he had come from the cold.

seungmin mumbles against the couch and the older raises an eyebrow. “ _mushwhahahisha,_ indeed.”

flipping over, seungmin takes a deep breath before speaking again. “i got mint choco cookies from chan’s mom and a few things from that small amusement park we went to, nothing much.”

“you have got to be kidding me with the mint choco stuff.”

seungmin only shrugs, a teasing smile on his face, recalling the time his brother had expected to eat a green tea-flavored cookie only to taste mint.

“i ran out of shampoo yesterday so i had to use yours and i swear i felt like my scalp had santa’s workshop in it, it smelled like christmas in starbucks,” wonpil whines and the younger laughs.

“forbidden word! we do not speak of the coffee mermaid in this household!” seungmin gasps and wonpil rolls his eyes. “i bet jae hyung teased you for it.”

“he said he felt like he was in a doublemint commercial,” wonpil chuckles and seungmin finds himself laughing harder.

after calming themselves, seungmin sighs, “jae hyung is funny.”

at that, the older closes his book after slipping his bookmark inside and moves to sit beside seungmin’s head. “he is. now what’s with the sigh?”

seungmin shrugs.

“okay, well do you wanna tell me about your trip? i thought you were too tired to talk.”

seungmin waves him off, “nah, i slept most of the way here.”

“i figured, you even have a bit of drool on your shoulder.”

the younger tries to take a look at his shoulder and sees that there was indeed a small dried patch on his cardigan. “oh. it’s not mine.”

wonpil’s eyes widen as seungmin takes off the clothing. “but isn’t that your cardigan?”

“i, uh,” he pauses for a bit, facing wonpil. “i let minho hyung sleep on my shoulder on the way back because he was _this_ close to getting his head smashed against the truck, i swear.”

his brother then wiggles his brows suggestively, “that’s sweet.”

seungmin lets out a grumble, not because he hated minho anymore or anything, it’s just because he refuses to admit that it was, in fact, quite a sweet gesture.

“you guys made up?” wonpil asks.

“i guess,” seungmin shrugs again, “he kinda confessed to me this morning.”

wonpil’s jaw practically drops to the floor as he scans seungmin’s face for any sign of joking. his eyes only get wider when he realizes that his brother was telling the truth to which he slams a hand over his own mouth. “no way. he actually did it?”

“what do you mean ‘actually?’”

“ _seungmin_ ,” the older gasps, “did he tell you when he started liking you?”

seungmin nods. “around a month after we met?”

“and do you remember when he started to frequent the café?”

“uh,” seungmin tries to recall, it’s been quite long. “i guess a few days after i fell down the stairs?”

“uhuh, now do you remember that time when i got sick and you were studying for an exam while you worked both our shifts and he always came in?”

“yeah, i was pretty pissed. he ordered two drinks and told me his friend no longer needed the drink so he left it with me. i wasted my time for that stupid cup of rainbow tea, why do we even sell those? don’t get me wrong, it tastes amazing but it takes so much energy to layer all the colors and shit! and then he proceeded to do the same thing again for the next few days! i almost wanted him banned from the café,” seungmin huffs, “now can you stop with the reminiscing, hyung? soon enough i’ll be speaking like a toddler again from all the remembering you’re making me do.”

wonpil breathes through his nose and crosses his arms, fully facing seungmin on the couch. “you absolute bloke, he bought that drink for you.”

“he did?”

“yeah, idiot. he liked you, right? he bought you those because you were overworking yourself.”

“how’d you know?”

the older drops his arms, “ah, a few days before i was hospitalized, i gave him my number since he always came by. and knowing that the both of you were friends—well, not friends but shared the same circles rather—i asked him if he could keep an eye on you while i was on a break.”

_oh_.

“and he actually kept his promise! when he got there for the first day i was gone, he got _so_ worried about you because you looked so out of it. he sent me these texts asking about what food you liked the best in the café so i told him about the ones you always went for and i also kinda told him that it would be quite a challenge to let you take his offer since you were always so hard-headed. i guess that's when he thought about the whole _fake friend_ thing so you'd have no choice but to eat or drink the things he bought for you."

"so every time he made excuses—"

"yeah..."

"even the one when he said he had to go to the bathroom and never came back?"

"yep—wait what."

"he had a bunch of excuses every time he ordered something. it was quite annoying but amusing at the same time," seungmin mutters.

wonpil smiles, it was nice to know that seungmin was at least entertained with minho's weird reasonings. "when i asked him for that favor, i thought it would take at least a little bit more of convincing. but he agreed immediately. that's when i knew he liked you. not many people would willingly spend their spare time just to check up on someone who works at the café six minutes away from the arts building for almost three weeks.

"but, you know, when i talked to you about the trip, i genuinely just wanted you to be happy with your friends because you'll find yourself missing them more and more when you guys get busier. and i may have also accidentally told minho about your problems regarding joining and i'm so sorry—please don’t mismatch my music sheets again—but then he told me he'll do his best to come clean to you so you could, you know, have fun with your friends with no worries. and i didn't think he'd actually do it but _wow_."

"so he went extra nice on me just because he wanted to?"

wonpil's brows furrow. "i think one way to put it is that he actually tried to befriend you."

"but we've been—"

"' _you've been friends_?' i don't think he knows that, min."

seungmin pauses. _he doesn't, does he?_ they just fixed things, never really set anything in stone. it was just a quiet agreement to be…

to be _what?_

_oh no._

"i need to talk to him," seungmin quietly says.

"you do?" wonpil did _not_ expect that.

the younger makes a noise of confirmation, standing up and pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"you can just talk tomorrow though?"

"nope!"

"then, i don't know, just call him!"

seungmin opens the front door to leave. "don't wanna!"

"do you even know where he lives?"

"actually, you know what, i'm quite tired. i'll do it tomorrow." he runs to his room and shuts the door.

wonpil lets out a weak chuckle, "idiot."

" _i heard that!_ "

"well then get your stinky gym bag out of here!"

  
  


♡

  
  


**to: lee minho hyung**

r u busy?

**from: lee minho hyung**

depends

why are u texting me this time in the evening

i just went to the cafe like three hours ago

**to: lee minho hyung**

is it bad to text you

**from: lee minho hyung**

no

i like it

u just

never rlly text me unless theres an emergency or sumn

is this bc we've made up yesterday 👁👁

**to: lee minho hyung**

uhhhhhh

maybe

but r u busy tonight

**from: lee minho hyung**

oH GEEZ AT LEAST TAKE ME OUT TO DINNER FIRST, KIM

**to: lee minho hyung**

bitch i will literally take u out if u dont get ur ass here to the café before 10 pm

**from: lee minho hyung**

uGHHHHH WHY 10 :((((((

that’s like

half an hour away 😭

**to: lee minho hyung**

im closing today so

10

and u won’t be able to say no anyway

**from: lee minho hyung**

>:(

hmph

k fine

**to: lee minho hyung**

see u in a few

**from: lee minho hyung**

k

no goodbye kiss ? 🥺

**to: lee minho hyung**

u have no shame do u

how about a goodbye dropkick

**from: lee minho hyung**

i hate you sm

a smile tugs on seungmin’s lips as he types a reply.

**to: lee minho hyung**

whatever :)

  
  


♡

minho arrived at the café a few minutes later, stepping inside with dishevelled hair and looking too comfortable with the huge striped sweater he had on. seungmin swears he rarely sees the older in other clothes instead of the baggy ones.

jogging up to the counter, minho raises an eyebrow at seungmin. “so…?”

“you can sit there,” seungmin points to the left of the café where a small purple couch stands in front of a small coffee table, “there’s only a few more minutes till closing, is it okay if you wait?”

the older nods, “take your time, kim.”

it was a saturday so it was no surprise to see more people in the place than any other night within the week. seungmin manages to get through all the orders just fine, glancing over to minho’s direction to see if the boy had run away or started a fire again only to see him try and waste time for a while. at first, he played games with his phone, looking over to where seungmin had been making drinks once in a while. then he dropped the game and chose to listen to music instead, plugging his ears with the earphones he had managed to grab on the way out of his place.

rain started to drizzle outside and minho leaned against the glass beside him, the smell of coffee and the warmth of the café leading him to doze off for a bit.

“hyung.”

peeling his eyes open, he sees seungmin sitting across him, dressed in much comfier clothes and his apron gone. that’s when minho realized that he had fallen asleep while waiting. seungmin snickers at his dazed state as he removes his earphones.

“we should get going, i cleaned up already.”

“you did?” seungmin nods.

“why didn’t i hear anything?”

“you were listening to music, idiot,” seungmin giggles.

“oh.”

seungmin leads him to the back as he grabs a paper bag and his backpack slung over one shoulder.

they walk in silence to the nearest convenience store, taking a seat at the small table outside. seungmin takes a deep breath before he clasps his hands together at his lap, fingers rubbing at each other as a way of relaxing.

minho raises an eyebrow, “are you okay? i can walk you home if you’re feeling uncomfortable, kim.”

the younger shakes his head and offers the other a shy smile. “i wanted to talk to you.”

minho feels his breath hitch. “i guess this is the part where you tell me you’d like me gone f—“

there’s a loud thump in front of him. seungmin had put his paper bag on the table between them and minho can’t see the other because of it.

“this is yours,” he hears seungmin say.

“what is it?”

“my way of paying you back.”

“for what?”

“you took care of me that time wonpil hyung was sick without me knowing. so i thought i could at least make it up to you halfway by buying these for you because you always order them and—yeah.”

“how did you—” minho takes the bag and peeks inside and inside are bundles of the dalgona cookies he always loved from the café. “hey, these are a lot. why—”

“thank you,” seungmin says. “for being a great friend.”

_friend._ no, _a great friend._ seungmin sees him as a great friend… seungmin is friends with minho. “i’m great?”

seungmin nods. “one of the best,” he corrects.

minho couldn’t help the smile that climbs up his face as he fights tears. “that makes me more happy than you think it would.”

“that’s good to know,” seungmin beams, “i just hope you know that you’re cool and great and i’m sorry for letting you know that so late.”

“nothing’s ever so late, kim,” the older mutters.

“i know, i know. but still, thank you for tolerating my stubborn self.”

minho chuckles as he hugs the paper bag close to him. “shut up, you know i’d go to great lengths for any of you losers. especially you because you’re the biggest loser of them all.”

seungmin kicks his legs from underneath the table at that as he cackles. “oh, hold on,” the younger interrupts, reaching into his bag and bringing out two small bottles of banana milk.

“how many more products have you stolen from your mom’s café?” minho gasps.

“quite a lot.” “loser.”

seungmin sticks his tongue out at him for that.

they talk while they walk home, stopping at the intersection before they part ways. minho finds himself falling for seungmin more—and he only hopes that seungmin could also do the same even for a bit. his thoughts were interrupted as he recalled seungmin’s words earlier and the traffic lights turn green and the pedestrian crossing gets run over by the cars driving by.

“kim.” he tugs on the younger’s sleeve. seungmin hums as he looks at minho, curiously waiting for whatever the other wants to say.

“you said something about paying me back halfway earlier. what’s the other half?”

seungmin thinks for a second before his expression lights up. “so that’s what i forgot.”

“what?”

the younger turns to him, eyes sparkling under the city lights and minho swears he might faint if he doesn’t look away for the next minute. “well, it’s not exactly paying you back, you see. it’s more for me and you, i guess?”

“and that’s…?”

seungmin flashes him a stunning smile, much more radiant than the previous ones he’d seen. “let’s try getting to know each other more, hyung.”

“ _uhuh_?” minho squints, still quite unsure of what the younger wants to happen.

“let’s try spending more time together—go on little dates and stuff, go out for food or study together. you know, those things.” seungmin shrugs.

“alright, kim.”

seungmin groans, “you’ve called me ‘seung’ before, can’t you stick with it?”

“what, kim is cute!”

the younger rolls his eyes and at that moment, the lights for the crossing turn green and seungmin faces him. “well, i’m off. get home safe, hyung,” he gushed, waving at minho who watches him turn the corner as soon as he makes it safely to the other side.

the older sighs from relief, it was nice to casually spend time with seungmin even if tonight was the first time.

_‘let’s try spending more time together,’_ his brain recalls as he walks home. _‘go on little dates and stuff.’_

“dates.”

_kim seungmin wants to go on dates._

_dates with me._

“holy fucking _shit._ ”

**to: seung ☁️**

DID YOU JUST ASK ME OUT

  
  


♡

  
  


**from: seung ☁️**

maybe

u can’t say no

**to: seung ☁️**

BITCH

HAVE U SEEN MY FUCKING FACE EVERY TIME U WALK IN THE DAMN ROOM

THE FUCK IS UP WITH U

  
  


♡♡

  
  


“ew, get lost,” seungmin says as soon as he turns around only to be met by minho on the other side of the counter.

“is that a way to greet a customer?” the older raises an eyebrow with a smug grin.

“nope, but it’s one way to greet your boyfriend.”

minho beams at that and they hear wonpil shout from the back. “ _i know it’s your monthsary but stop with the flirting or i’m kicking you both out!_ ”

both boys snicker at that and seungmin types in minho’s order: a dalgona cookie and the next fruit tea on the menu that minho checks off. “are you gonna write something nice on my cup today?”

seungmin shrugs with a teasing grin. “maybe.” minho groans.

passing the coaster, seungmin feels warmth on top of his hand. minho’s hands were always so warm, it makes seungmin fluttery. “how many more minutes till you’re off?”

seungmin checks the time with a small pout. “just a few more. is it okay if you wait?”

the older smiles from ear to ear. “of course, no worries, seung.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


minho still gets a ‘ _most annoying fucking loser in this goddamn planet_ _< 3_’ on his cup that day (plus a kiss on the cheek).


	2. wait, come a little closer?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “best of luck to you, homie.”
> 
> “did you just homie-zone me?”
> 
> “whatever, scurry along, loser.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is chapter 2 y’allsmkjskmfkjmsms!! this was just a little self-indulgent thing i decided to add bc i wanted to write abt how 2min became boyfriends hEHe it’s v short btw ahaha *scratches head* and also very messy and all over the place but go read this fic’s title and look at the last word ,, yea that do be me but hey let’s enjoy this epilogue ig !!!

the moment seungmin got home that night, wonpil spots him leaning against the front door with his eyes blown wide and his stance all awkward.

“so you still had plans on coming home,” his brother scoffs from the couch, an eyebrow raised as he lifts a glass of juice to his lips, only stopping short when seungmin doesn’t reply. “you’re not answering, what’s up with you?”

the younger boy drops his backpack to the floor and blinks.

“i asked him out.”

a series of choked and confused noises erupt from the living room, wonpil bringing a fist to his chest in an attempt to easen up his breathing. “you—” he coughs, “who?”

seungmin reaches for his backpack on the floor, scooping it up into his arms with a small smile.

“three cats, fluffy dark hair, weird obsession with hoodies and non-alcoholic drinks. you know, lee minho.”

the younger of the two practically skips to his room right after, closing the door with his foot and wonpil just stares. never was he a witness to the beaming, lovestruck version of his sibling in all their twenty years of brotherhood. wonpil used to assume that seungmin was just too boring or busy to ever be interested in someone at this age.

but, of course, if anyone had the ability to coax seungmin out of his boring, coffee-stirring and 24/7 studying shell, it would have to be minho who is all sparkly eyes and witty remarks and bold drink choices.

“ _ah_ , lee minho,” wonpil sighs to no one in particular, “you’ve no idea what you’ve done.”

  
  


♡

  
  


**from: cutest boy**

i see you rn

  
  


it’s been two weeks since that day. minho was practically buzzing when seungmin greeted him the next morning outside his first class with coffee in his hands after seemingly worming his way deeper into the older’s head by asking him out the night prior. minho thought it was quite adorable. he never would’ve expected _the_ kim seungmin to bring him morning coffee — and they were only dating for a few hours.

yes, _dating_. minho still couldn’t believe it. although they’ve never been out on an official date because of messy schedules and hide-and-seek (they haven’t broken the news to their friends — they were still a work in progress after all), it was enough for both of them to see each other for at least five minutes every day with seungmin working at the café and minho being a regular. and, of course, the occasional movie nights at seungmin’s were a bonus.

now, though, with a bit more time in their hands and winter fast approaching, it was inevitable to find an excuse to hang out together and do winter-y activities.

and that’s exactly what brought them to the warmly lit plaza in the chilly evening of late october.

“you look,” minho managed to stutter out as he turns to seungmin who arrived two minutes late to their agreed meet-up time. (it was fine, minho didn’t really mind.) “nice. you look really good.”

seungmin raises an eyebrow at this, not expecting the compliment from the older as he blames the cold for tinting his cheeks red because he _feels_ it.

but, seungmin still asks, “why? just because i dressed up for you?”

“no." minho's eyes widen. "i mean—not that—“

seungmin’s face immediately lightens up, eyes turning into uneven crescents and doubling over as he laughs at the older’s reaction. “i’m kidding. you don’t look so bad yourself.”

“don’t talk to me, i thought i offended you!”

seungmin tuts. “if anything, i’m still getting used to all the flattering words. i was just joking, come on.”

“i know,” minho says, intertwining their hands together. “you deserve all the flattering words, though. plus, you _really_ look extra pretty today.”

seungmin rolled his eyes as they began walking to check out the different stalls and booths in the plaza, the sky growing darker with each passing minute. “i’m always pretty.”

“yeah, and again—” minho smiles at seungmin— “i know.”

the younger stammers, cheeks turning a shade darker as he looks at everything and anything but minho, suddenly pointing out the string of lights splayed out above them and blabbering about how nice it would be to put them up in his mom’s garden.

when seungmin stops, minho snickers. “are you done?”

“yes. now let’s go waste our time looking at cute stationery over there.” seungmin pulled minho to a stall and they kicked off the night with wide smiles and warm, rosy cheeks.

after half an hour of roaming, they stopped in front of the fountain near the front with seungmin taking pictures of the colorful lights dancing in the water, minho watching him.

“do you think i’d get electrocuted if i just scoop out the coins from below,” minho suggests instead of asking, leaning over the edge of the fountain as the younger faces him with a look that reads _just try and i’ll snap your neck_ to which the older just shrugs at.

but then a loud gasp brings them back to reality as they look over to the source standing a few feet away from them — jisung _and_ hyunjin.

“ _shit_ ,” seungmin curses under his breath but minho catches it, even bites down a laugh at the non-threatening way seungmin had said it.

“you two! what are you doing here?” jisung points at the two boys, strutting over to them and leaving hyunjin a few steps behind.

"just hanging out." minho tilts his head at the two approaching them. "what are _you_ doing here?”

hyunjin lets out a groan as he joins minho on the fountain’s edge looking like he'd been getting zero sleep lately. “jisung wanted to drag me out here because he said there’d be a lot of couples and he didn’t want to look lonely. he’s lucky i owe him money or else i would’ve just—” hyunjin angled his arm and swung it towards the sky with a _swoosh!_

“yeah, yeah. you’re still paying half, okay?” jisung huffs and crosses his arms across his chest, “now, enough about me, are you two really hanging out? like, no weird truce or scheming or whatever?”

seungmin blinks. “truce?” he asks as he turns towards minho and jisung nods.

“well, i guess we _are_ kinda on a truce,” minho answers.

“woah, i just got goosebumps,” hyunjin muses from the side with a lopsided smile.

seungmin rolls his eyes but he laughs nonetheless. “are you guys going home any time soon?”

“what, so you can have hyung all to yourself?” jisung teases.

he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at the younger, hyunjin looking all the more interested after hearing the question and minho awaiting his answer with a challenging look.

seungmin only strides towards jisung to grab him by the ear.

“ _aaagh!_ seung—!" jisung flails his arms in an attempt to get seungmin’s hand off of him.

“you cheeky little shit, i’d rip your ears off so you could spare hearing yourself say the stupidest things that come out your mouth!” seungmin gathers the energy to twist jisung’s ear to which the older reacts wildly to but minho had walked over to them — hunching over and breaking into fits of boisterous laughter in the process.

“hey,” he breathes, the hot air visible in the cold weather. “as much as i enjoy watching this, we don't want anyone dying tonight, right, seung?” minho puts a hand on seungmin’s shoulder with a grin that softens as he moves to rest it atop of the younger’s hand, slowly tugging seungmin’s grip off of jisung.

hyunjin watches in silence, eyes wide as saucers as his eyes zero onto the duo’s gentle hands, catching a glimpse of the way minho’s hand gently squeezes seungmin’s all the while the younger pretends to glare at jisung.

the squirrel-cheeked boy didn’t seem to notice though, only cradling the side of his head and whining about the damage seungmin’s done. “i’m older than you!”

seungmin tries to charge towards the boy again but gets held back by minho’s grip on his coat. “by a week!”

hyunjin blinks. once. twice.

“what the…” the three boys pay him no mind as they continue to squabble. “oh my god—what the fuck.”

jisung runs towards the long-haired boy whose eyes remain glued to seungmin and minho. “come on, samuel dearest. my life’s at risk with these two around!” jisung fake-sobs as he tugs the older.

“wait, are you two—“ hyunjin points at the two boys near the fountain. when both of them just smile at him (seungmin’s more apologetic than the older’s), he gasps and jisung pulls him away.

“oh my god, jisung, they’re—“

“a pain in the ass, i know. now let’s find some food.”

"—dating!”

jisung laughs and it echoes around them. "babe, you know nothing about dating, stop spewing nonsense."

“hyung and—”

“hyung and seungmin are _idiots_ who have a thing for inflicting pain on their friends. ooh! cotton candy!”

“bye, hyunjin!” minho calls after the boy with a sly grin, seungmin waving after them.

after the two rascals were out of sight, seungmin turned to the older. “well, i guess hyunjin’s first to know.”

“yeah, well,” minho shrugs, taking the younger’s hand into his coat’s pocket. “someone’s bound to be first.”

seungmin snorts. “yeah, sounds like you.”

“what sounds like me?”

“you’re my first.”

minho stills and points an accusatory finger at seungmin, ignoring the way heat creeps up his neck and to the tips of his ears. "and you're so fucking cheesy."

seungmin flashes him a cheeky smile. “you just gotta live with it, i like seeing you get flustered. you look so confused and small.”

“why. _why_ do i even like you.”

“because i’m kim seungmin.”

“you’re right.”

“i’m not right, i’m kim seungmin.”

minho sighs. “well you can fuck off, now, kim seungmin.”

seungmin cackles.

  
  


♡

  
  


if there's one thing seungmin hates about working at a café, it's the seasonal menu.

it's finally november and that means whipping out the christmas decorations and covering every visible surface with an absurd amount of tinsel that for some reason they _never_ run out of. november also means rich people ordering seasonal drinks that cost more than three days worth of seungmin's lunch every so often.

honestly, the drinks aren't too bad. but they sure as fuck are a pain in the ass to make, save for one that tastes like shit. and seungmin had absolutely nothing against mint as an avid fan of mint-flavored sweets himself but _holy shit_ the amount of mint he had to inhale every week was just insane.

and with the holidays fast approaching, it also means that the café earns a lot which seungmin is just generally very grateful for; he just hopes he could earn enough money to buy gifts for his family and friends.

speaking of friends...

  
  


**from: cat nerd**

im dropping by!!

ure probably gna read this on ur break

jisung felix n chan hyung r coming w me too lolololol

c u ^_____^

  
  


seungmin smiles to himself and sends back a quick reply.

him and minho have been getting along well... _too_ well. hyunjin had barged into the kim residence (thanks to wonpil) the morning after they saw each other in the plaza and had interrogated the living shit out of the younger.

("wait… so all that and you're not, like, _together_ together yet?" hyunjin had asked.

seungmin rubbed at his eyes. "yeah—well, i don't know. i mean, i'd like to ask him but i don't wanna freak him out for being too fast or anything."

"you idiot, that man's head over heels for you. heck, he'd fly to mars if you asked him to."

seungmin smacks him with a pillow. "yeah, because i’m _totally_ gonna ask him to get me a rock from mars. i'm going back to sleep."

"just ask him to be your boyfriend already!"

the younger falls head first into his pillows, flashing his friend with his middle finger which made hyunjin groan into his hands.)

in conclusion: seungmin's shit at dating.

actually, _no_ , he's shit at asking minho to be his boyfriend. it's not that he's doubting that minho likes him that much — okay, actually, he sometimes _does_. minho is just too kind and hardworking and attractive and talented and gentle and noisy and funny and spontaneous and cool and everything that seungmin never knew he had on his imaginary boyfriend checklist. and seungmin's just seungmin! standing beside minho drags him down to a 4/10 while the older's a whole 12, he thinks.

seungmin's not normally too self-deprecating or anything but he can't help but think that minho's too good for him sometimes.

but he sure does want a boyfriend and that's gotta be minho, whether his own insecure yet fabulous ass likes it or not.

"i'm clocking out. you're up, little kim!" lia pokes her head through the back room's door, breaking seungmin out of his reverie.

“lia, i’m taller than you.”

back to the front he goes, stirring up drinks and serving cakes on tiny plates. soon enough, seungmin forgets about minho and the others swinging by to eat their late lunch from the amount of orders he was getting.

thankfully, around 5 in the afternoon, customers were emptying out and the line had dissipated into a total of one: just a girl around his age with— oh no.

_wee woo wee woo! rich kid alert_ , seungmin’s brain screams. _oh my god those nails are longer than your will to liv—_

as the girl steps up to the counter, his friends enter the café, the sound of the bell resonating in the place paired with the not so quiet greetings of his friends who he sheepishly waved at.

minho was last to enter, making eye contact with seungmin as he grins from ear to ear with the motion of his fingers, reminding the boy to smile. though minho didn't have to tell him to, seungmin finds his lips curling up.

they dart to a table across the counter (definitely not because they like making faces at seungmin from time to time to cheer him up or anything) and minho orders for them, lining up as seungmin takes the order of the customer in front.

“is that all?” seungmin asks sweetly and minho winces a bit at the fake politeness. he could see that seungmin’s tired and _oh god_ there’s still roughly an hour left before his shift’s over.

the girl in front hums, drumming her undeniably cute but terrifyingly long nails against the case of her phone. “how about you? what do you recommend?” she asks, voice a pitch higher than before.

“uh… i like the peppermint ones? especially the mocha one.” _lies,_ minho chuckles to himself. seungmin doesn’t enjoy the peppermint mocha latte at all, the boy practically went on a full rant about it when the holiday classics menu was up. however, minho does remember him saying it was practically the easiest drink to make in the menu.

“okay, i’ll take that as well. and maybe,” the girl trails off, leaning a bit closer to the cashier. “your numbe—”

minho makes a noise of confusion behind her and seungmin ignores the sentence cut short, still smiling albeit too creepily as if jeongin just threathened to dog-ear the pages of his baekhyun albums. the customer pays with her card and seungmin hands her the coaster. “to-go, right? here you go, your order will be ready in around six minutes.”

as if seungmin’s passiveness wasn’t enough, she replies. “thank you! i’m yuri, by the way! and you’re really nice. and you fit my ideal type—“

minho’s eyes practically flew out his skull.

“—and i was wondering if you’re free next week! you see, my dad is the owner of this, like, big company, i don’t know what it is, but he scored tickets to that very exclusive fashion show next week—like, it’s gonna be the _biggest_ fashion show in korea, you know? and i don’t have anyone to go with and you’re really cute and nice! wanna go on a date?”

seungmin blinks, not at all processing _anything_ yuri said. for a brief second, his eyes catch what seems to be a fuming lee minho behind her.

“i, uh,” he turns back to yuri, face now stoic and honestly looking so lost in the forest of what seems to be varying ideas of ways to reject her offer. “i can’t speak korean,” seungmin says. in _korean_.

_damn_ , he thinks. _i’m fucking dumb._

yuri stammers, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear while looking absolutely bewildered. “sorry, what?”

behind her, minho speaks through gritted teeth, each word dripping with warning. “hi, ma'am. it means he’s taken.”

at this, yuri steps back to give minho a once-over and seungmin mentally slaps himself over to the next planet, praying that minho finishes his afternoon diss battle early so he can get to make the drinks after taking their friends’ orders.

“and you can say this because…?” yuri challenges.

“we’re _dating_ ," minho says, eyes practically shooting lasers at the girl. "aren’t we, seungmin?"

on the table to the right, jisung spits out his drink at chan and felix makes a loud noise similar to a duck which was probably him choking on a ‘what’ as seungmin nods, offering yuri a small, apologetic smile.

“oh,” she says dejectedly. “sorry. nevermind the offer, then.” she manages to pull out the fakest grin, cheeks bunched up and all (seungmin cannot compete with _that_ ) and saunters over to a table to wait for her order.

minho suddenly beams at seungmin, doing a 180° turn from the previous scary aura he had as if he wasn’t just ready to pounce a customer seconds ago. the younger beckons him forward to take yuri's place so he could already, _for the love of god_ , make the damned drinks. but the older isn’t one to walk away from trouble, no, he pours gasoline over it and flicks a lighter open and fans the fire all the way. so, in all lee minho fashion, he waves at yuri when he sees her glaring all across the café and shouts, “have a nice day, yuri-ssi!”

“you’re lucky hyung’s not here,” seungmin mutters after he lowers his head down a bit, growing a bit embarrassed at the attention they’re getting.

minho chuckles. “hell yeah, i am. but _what the hell_ , that was—“ he shudders— “anyways, i’ll walk you home after your shift. my next class is cancelled so we can watch movies at yours! unless you have something—“

“what the _fuck_ was that!” felix exclaims from the side. minho rolls his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips as he lists off their orders so seungmin could free up the queue.

“wait, the coffee’s for you? i thought you’re cutting down?” seungmin asks as he punches the order in.

minho hums, handing him bills from his wallet. “i’m meeting up with a really special friend of mine and he needs caffeine. _badly._ ”

the younger hums non-committedly. “cool.”

“indeed i am.”

seungmin scoffs, “nerd.” he places the coaster in minho’s outstretched hand, “you sure the others would be okay with you ditching them to walk me home?”

“yeah? they’re just gonna study here, anyway. actually, i guess they’re interrogating me first so that’s that.”

“best of luck to you, homie.”

“did you just _homie-zone_ me?”

“whatever, scurry along, loser.”

the older makes a big deal of walking backwards, dancing what seems to be a sorrowful take on ariana’s song about santa telling her something playing on the café’s speakers.

“wait,” seungmin calls out, glad that minho’s not too far away. “you’re walking with me, right? you said you had to meet a friend.”

minho shakes his head. “ _really special_ friend,” he corrects. “baby, the drink’s for you.”

as if he wasn’t embarrassing enough, he blows seungmin a kiss and marches to the table their friends were at. seungmin stares after him for a second as minho gets dragged to a seat beside jisung and they start crowding around him.

“ _idiot_ ,” seungmin mumbles to himself as he pulls out a cup for a peppermint mocha latte.

  
  


♡

  
  


snow came early, november a bit more colder with the sudden snowfalls here and there and it made seungmin _very_ happy, the boy sending minho pictures of the falling snow from his windowsill.

minho replies with a few cute emoticons, small puppies rolling in the snow and happy snowmen dancing and all.

but the older is anything but happy.

look, when your mother rings you up at 3 in the afternoon a month before your family’s annual christmas gathering with the hopes of you bringing someone but you and your someone is actually very much still dating, it’s normal to think that maybe your life is totally shitting on you.

first of all, minho’s family is quite accepting. ‘quite’ because when minho came out a year ago, his parents took the news calmly, but his aunt? she froze, spoonful of bulgogi that minho had prepared suspended in the air as the cats climbed her lap. she claims she loves all, but minho and their young relatives have seen her blunt homophobic facebook posts and when they asked her about it, she simply said, “you won’t understand, you’re all too young.”

it was complete bullshit, they were sure of that. but in the invitation, minho’s mom had seen an opportunity and urged him on to take it. this means that minho can use the next gathering to prove to his aunt that there’s really no changing him, that it’s not a phase and minho could smooch whoever the hell he wanted to.

although the event alone is already nerve-wracking, the second problem is the _someone_ he has to bring. of course, he’s definitely asking seungmin and there’s absolutely no problem with the boy!

it’s just that minho wishes they could go together as boyfriends… because they’re both still taking things slow as far as he knows.

“just—why don’t you ask him to be your boyfriend already? it’s not like he’s gonna say no,” jeongin says from the bed, typing away at his essay that’s due the next day. being close to jeongin’s dorm had always been something minho used to his advantage, allowing the younger boy to play therapist every time he needed to vent. jeongin used to complain, but now he just lets minho in because jeongin required him to bring something every time he crashes: the biggest tub of mint choco and strawberry ice cream available at the mart.

minho sighs, at his boy dilemma and the sudden lack of weight of his wallet. “maybe he won’t say no but he _might_ assume i only asked because the christmas dinner is coming up. what does that make me, jeongin?”

“an asshole.”

“exactly!” minho stuffs a spoon of ice cream in his mouth. “i don’t want him to be my boyfriend just so i could prove something to my aunt, i want him to be my boyfriend because i genuinely, absolutely love him to death and i want him in my life!”

jeongin tsks. “save your wedding vows for later. seriously, hyung, just explain it to him. it’s not like he’s anti-you anymore, he’d understand so go ask him to dinner already.”

should he? should he ask already? “but what if i—“

“ _go. tell. him._ ”

the older huffs from the floor, pulling his phone out of his coat pocket and it takes him a few minutes of editing and revising before he sends a text to seungmin.

  
  


**to: babeyyy**

hey um

r u busy rn

**from: babeyyy**

still watching the snow from inside lmao

its piling up nicely in the garden 

whatsup

**to: babeyyy**

well

uhhjhkjhfkjrgh

so my mom called like two hours ago

and we’re gna have christmas dinner together w my mom’s family next month lololol

technically it’s a post-christmas dinner we do it every year haha

and my parents said i could bring someone and i’ve blatantly hinted abt u to themlike …. since weeks ago

so yea

**from: babeyyy**

OOOO OK OK

just ur parents ?

**to: babeyyy**

my aunt is there

and my grandma

and my grandpa

and two of my cousins

yeah thats p much it

**from: babeyyy**

owo

that sounds nice wtf

**to: babeyyy**

it is :3

but like, just a little warning

my aunt’s kinda homophobic,,,,, but i mean she’s been kinda calm abt it recently idk

but everyone else is prettymuch openminded which im Super Thankful for

and im not just bringing u to prove a point btw i jus also rlly wanna introduce u to my parents

but yeah

wanna go? 👈🏻👉🏻

i mean its totally ok if u dont want to haha

  
  


“you’re rambling through text,” jeongin comments monotonously, peering over the older’s shoulder.

“and you’re holding off your essay, come on.”

seungmin leaves minho on read after that, and if that didn’t worry minho enough, he hasn’t typed anything back for the past five minutes. that certainly gets minho.

  
  


**to: babeyyy**

seung ??

u good .. 👁🕳👁❓❓

not to be the overly clingy guy who rlly likes u but

u there?

😶😶

  
  


“what if he just needed to take a really big shit or something?”

minho groans. “jeongin, you’re not helping. i’m _dying_ over here.”

reaching over to flick the older on the forehead, jeongin snickers. “you sure do love overthinking, don’t you?”

“what can i say," minho sighs, "jumping to conclusions is my favorite sport.”

it takes another minute before he receives a notification and jeongin raises an eyebrow. “seungmin?”

when minho checks his phone, he shakes his head. “it’s wonpil.”

“what?”

  
  


**from: big kim**

so i was gna ask seungmin if he wanted food

but i went to his room and he wasnt there

but he left his phone open and i swear i wasnt snooping

but yea dont worry hes fine lmao

minho squints at the video thumbnail, _is that seungmin?_ he plays the video and it’s shaky, wonpil seems to have been perched on the window seungmin was previously at and the camera looks out to their garden covered in snow and what seems to be a walking block of coal holding a big clump of snow in its hands.

okay, minho definitely should have known better. because what else would seungmin be doing right now other than building a snowman in their front yard drowning in his coat and a scarf carelessly thrown over his neck? and _good lord_ , what kind of hell did that hat come from?

the boy seems to have no idea his brother was filming him but there he is, trudging in the snow as he stacks boulder after boulder to create his snowman in the middle of what probably feels like a blizzard because _what the fuck_ it’s so cold outside and he’s not even wearing gloves. he doesn’t mind at all, though, laughing to himself as he tries his best not to fall over his snowy boulder friend. the video ends right before seungmin topples over from his foot being stuck in the deep layers of snow and minho just wishes he didn’t freeze to death.

”not gonna lie, that’s cute as fuck,” jeongin muses, suddenly too close to minho’s head and the older shrieks.

”go do your homework!”

**to: big kim**

w,KSz’&) thank u hyungn 

pls tell me hes now inside ur house ;-;

**from: big kim**

.....

he’s making a snow pterodactyl to accompany frosty

**to: big kim**

what the FUCK

to say that minho usually channels the energy of a tsundere high-school girl who cares too much about hypothermia is an understatement because he leaves jeongin’s dorm room in a whim, jogging to seungmin’s house to the best of his abilities with the slippery sidewalk possibly giving him multiple scares and a tsundere high-school girl would _never_ just run out like that without a plan.

when he reaches the kim household, seungmin was still outside, attaching a beak to the pretty accurate pterodactyl he was carving out of snow. minho slows down to walk towards him, waving over to wonpil who was watching them from upstairs with the biggest grin. when he nears seungmin, wonpil had disappeared behind the window.

”oh?” seungmin gasps and charges over to minho with open arms. “hyung!”

minho hugs him back, seungmin hooking his chin over the older’s shoulder. _damn tall boys._ “what brings you here?”

instead of an answer, minho fixes him an unimpressed look when he pulls back and seungmin looks apologetic. “sorry.”

”i’m kidding.” minho holds both of seungmin’s hands which were actually _so_ close to freezing and tucks their hands into his pockets. “just got worried a bit... you weren’t answering and i thought i kinda scared you.”

”what? with the dinner?” minho nods. “hyung, i’d love to go. i don’t care if your aunt’s there, i’m too tough to let someone berate my sexuality, you know?”

“i know, i just... don’t want you uncomfortable as well. she’s just really scary for me, like, no shit, i’ve held debates with her stares alone.”

”did you win?”

minho hums, “sometimes.”

that makes seungmin giggle, ”but really, in the name of gaga, riri and grande, i’m sure i’d enjoy spending time in your home. like, no kidding, i want to see your cats, too, even though i’m a dog person. actually, i don’t know if i’m a dog person. but i wanna see your cats. and meet your parents. and your family.”

minho blinks. “in the name of _what?_ ”

”nothing,” seungmin chuckles. a sharp intake of breath and he’s looking into minho’s eyes. “i’ll be fine, really. it’s gonna be such a nice dinner, don’t you think?”

minho nods, a small smile creeping up his lips, “yeah. _super_ nice.”

”that’s right, catboy.”

”shut the fuck up,” minho cries. “also what the fuck is this hat?”

”i don’t know, either. my looks make up for it though.”

”your grandma sure made it with consideration, huh.”

they burst into laughter until seungmin remembers his snow creations. he looks back to the older with a sparkle in his eyes, “wanna go watch a movie or do you wanna help me make my super awesome snow avengers?”

”i’m dating a five year-old,” minho sighs, pinching the bridge of his noise which earns him a punch to the arm. “ _‘super awesome snow avengers?’_ really, kim?”

the other boy shrugs. “i’m relieving my stress, okay? i need people to look after the house.”

“prelims?” seungmin nods.

”but it’s okay, though. i’m working through my plates just fine, i just haven’t taken a breather.”

“aw,” minho drags seungmin closer to engulf him in another hug which he melts into, “poor guy. i guess it’s good that i’m here now, we could take a breather together.”

seungmin nods and they stay still, the snow suddenly coming to a stop soon after and minho thinks that the heavens must’ve been tired as well. they’re fine like this, quiet and basking in the warmth of each other. it should be weird if you were to tell either of them about this before the faithful month of october where chan was high up in the air, buzzing with the excitement of spending two days with his little group. minho would simply scoff, seungmin would look as if he had been offended.

but now, they’re holding each other in the snow as if seungmin’s neighbors hadn’t sent them a questioning glance a second ago. it makes minho too happy that he gets to hold seungmin like this after all the crazy cat and dog dispute they used to do, all the nasty glares that he would often replace with stolen glances when the younger wasn’t looking, all the extra excuses he needed to cover up how worried he was for seungmin who is now breathing through his nose before whispering something that makes minho choke on air.

”be my boyfriend, hyung.”

minho coughs into his fist, feeling the tremors of seungmin’s laughter against his chest. “you—yeah. okay.”

seungmin pulls away from him, a frown to his face. ”you don’t sound like you want to.”

”no, i do! it’s just—i was taken aback!”

seungmin hums. ”i’ve been thinking about it since weeks ago. hyunjin pestered me about it and, i don’t know, i guess i finally realized that i just needed to go for it. and i like you—a lot. even though you’re annoying and loud, i like it. i like you enough to be my boyfriend.”

even in the cold weather, seungmin feels heat rise to his cheeks and he looks away from minho, suddenly shy. the older smiles at the pink on his cheeks because it’s pretty and he’s the reason behind it. seungmin’s pretty and minho certainly likes pink and pretty.

without another word, minho grabs the scarf slung around seungmin’s neck and pulls him close. seungmin’s heartbeat picks up its pace and then, without any warning, minho’s lips are against his, a bit chapped and cold but it’s fine.

seungmin _loves_ it.

a simple peck (that lasted more than a second, at least) and minho almost wheezes at seungmin’s flustered state, eyes wide and his heart is hammering against his chest.

he cups the boy’s face with his hands and if seungmin wasn’t at all dissolving into a pool in the middle of winter yet, he internally does with the older’s next words. “in case you haven’t noticed, i like you, too. very much. since, like, two years ago when you were falling down the stairs and your ass needed catching.”

seungmin is shaking his head as he chortles, pressing his forehead against minho’s, reveling at the few inches he has on him. “i fucking hate you.”

“give me back the scarf, then.”

”let’s go inside, shall we?”

minho scoffs, “loser.”

”nerd.”

they actually did get inside, storming into the kitchen with intertwined hands to make hot chocolate and seungmin telling minho the secrets to the best cup of hot choco that made the older scrunch his nose up in confusion, saying ‘i just add water to swiss miss and call it a day.’ after realizing that seungmin had been wearing pajamas out in the snow, minho pushes him upstairs for a change of clothes, the younger groaning and dragging his feet across to the living room.

when minho had brought their drinks to the coffee table, he remembers about the dinner and this makes him fish his phone out of his pocket.

**to: maaaaa ^—^**

we’ll be there on the 27th :]

**from: maaaaa ^—^**

sounds good! you can help me with the food then!

wait, we?

who’s we?

**to: maaaaa ^—^**

we as in me n my boyfriend, seungmin !!

**from: maaaaa ^—^**

oh!

🥰🥰🙊🤗

your dad and i are looking forward to meet your “cute barista boy”!

a dull thud comes from the bottom of the stairway to his right and minho beams at seungmin.

”fancy seeing you here, seungmin.”

the younger rolls his eyes, striding over the carpet to tackle minho into the couch. “fuck yeah, i’m no longer just ‘kim’ now.”

”wanna be ‘lee’ soon, though? y— _agh_ , i’m kidding, i’m kidding!”

“shut up, you still owe me two more years of ‘seungmin’ and ‘seung,’ got that?”

minho moves to press a kiss to the crown of the other’s head but seungmin halts him, facing him with his lips puckered out in a very childish way that makes minho laugh. “ _ip yur gunna kiss me, do it here, idio—_ ”

it doesn’t take minho another second before he meets seungmin’s lips again in a chaste kiss. “there. we good, _seung?_ ”

“yeah,” seungmin’s eyes crinkle into uneven crescents, grinning from ear to ear. he lays his head onto minho’s chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat that seungmin knows is beating just as fast as his. matched and accompanied. seungmin finds it all delightful, no matter how crazy their hearts are going. he knows they’re beating that fast because of one thing: them. not just either one, but both.

“we’re good, hyung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *felix voice* it’s all good now
> 
> twt: boddaiino

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to the seungfest mod for allowing me to write something so undeniably fun and i certainly want to thank mod for being so nice as they made this whole thing possible!!
> 
> icb i wrote this like . it's so long and somehow half-decent ???? wkskdnskdk but yea thanks for reading!!! i rlly appreciate u for even clicking on the link to this fic so sKSKKDK


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